Some reaction now to Boris Johnson's decision to quit as Tory leader from Bury in Lancashire.

The two seats here – Bury North and Bury South – are amongst the most marginal in the country. Both were taken from Labour by the Conservatives in 2019.

Steve Maloney, at the market's Barbeque Barn stand, says Boris Johnson had "no option whatsoever" in resigning today.

“All his main men have pretty much deserted him and left him out on a limb on his own," he says.

Over on The Muffin Stall, John Leech, a previous Conservative voter, abstained in 2019 because he didn’t like Boris Johnson.

"I think it’s good news for the nation," he says of Johnson's resignation, adding there needs to be "a new vision" to rebuild after all the recent chaos.

Gill Eagle, of Eagle's Bookstall, voted for the Conservatives in 2019 over Brexit and likes Boris Johnson.

“I’m quite sad that he’s resigned. I think he’s been treated very unfairly by his own party," she says.

"I think the press stretched the truth on his parties. I think he had lost the confidence of the party and the general public.”

Image source, Reuters

US President Joe Biden has reacted to Boris Johnson's decision to step down, saying the "special relationship" between the US and UK "remains strong and enduring".

In statement shared with CBS News, Biden said he looked forward to continuing to cooperate closely with the UK government on "a range of important priorities", including a "united approach" in supporting Ukraine.

It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Johnson earlier for his "decisive action" on Ukraine.

Johnson says the UK will continue to provide Ukraine with defensive aid for as long as needed, and will work on ending the grain blockade.

Branwen Jeffreys
Education Editor

Image source, Getty Images

James Cleverly steps into the job of education secretary, with some tricky business to navigate straight away.

Within weeks the government is due to finalise its pay offer to teachers in England, a decision which will ultimately be made at the Treasury.

Experienced teachers have seen their pay fall in real terms over the last decade, even before the rising costs this year.

The proposed offer to them is 5% over two years, which education unions have already said is not enough. That raises the possibility of ballots industrial action in the autumn.

Before then, the first results from actual exams since 2019, which will be lower overall than the teacher assessed grades of the pandemic.

Feel like your head's spinning? Spare a thought for staff in the Department of Education, who have had three bosses in three days.

Tuesday: In the morning the education secretary was Nadhim Zahawi, who'd been in place since September 2021.

But that evening, Rishi Sunak resigned from the role of chancellor, Zahawi was appointed to fill the vacancy behind him, and Michelle Donelan became education secretary.

Wednesday: Donelan served out a full day in her new role - it would be her first and last.

Thursday: After both Zahawi and Donelan had called on the prime minister to quit, Donelan resigned just before 9am.

A few hours later, Johnson appointed James Cleverly, a former chairman of the Conservative Party, to become the new education secretary.

The department's staff might well be asking: How long will he last?

If you're unclear on how a caretaker cabinet works, the BBC has been speaking to Dr Catherine Haddon, senior fellow at the Institute for Government think tank, to shed some light on what it means for policies.

She tells the BBC that Boris Johnson won't be able to continue as normal and will face some restrictions on what he's allowed to do.

"That said, it's not supposed to stop you dealing with the business of government," she adds.

"You have to make judgement calls all the time... where do you need to make decisions about the economy that could prove controversial... where do you need to drop things?

She suggested some policies that could be dropped include privatising Channel 4 and changes to the Human Rights Act, adding "some aspects of the manifesto are now just dead in the water".

Downing Street has not denied that the prime minister and his wife Carrie Johnson have planned a wedding party at Chequers later this month.

Asked about the reports, which first appeared in the Daily Mirror and Bloomberg, a No10 spokesperson said: "The prime minister has a strong sense of duty and will continue to serve his country until a new leader is in place, solely to continue his obligation to the public.”

Chequers, in Buckinghamshire, is the country residence of the serving prime minister.

Opposition MPs have been quick to condemn the idea of Johnson and his wife holding a wedding party there.

Labour MP Angela Eagle described the plan as "grubby" and Lib Dem MP Munira Wilson said "it's always been about the parties with him".

Nicholas Watt
Political editor, BBC Newsnight

Robert Buckland, the new Secretary of State for Wales, was one of a series of ministers appointed today which ensured the PM had a full cabinet in place by the time he announced his departure.

Buckland, who was sacked last year as lord chancellor, said he fully expected Johnson to observe the convention that a PM who has resigned as party leader does not wade into politically contentious areas.

The new cabinet minister told BBC Newsnight:

Buckland said he was serving on the basis that Johnson will stand down as prime minister when a new Tory leader is elected.

Watch Newsnight on BBC Two at 22:30, and on the iPlayer

Image source, EPA

We reported earlier that Boris Johnson had met with his new cabinet, during which he told senior ministers it was "not for me to do a major change of direction" during his last few days, weeks or months in office.

Now we've got a read-out of that meeting from No 10.

Johnson told cabinet his priority was to "continue delivering on manifesto pledges and making sure the government is on the side of the public, on the cost of energy, transport and housing and all else that matters to them".

A statement from No 10 continues: "He made clear the government would not seek to implement new policies... He said major fiscal decisions should be left for the next prime minister."

Members of cabinet then paid tribute to the PM, thanking him for his service.

Nicholas Watt
Political editor, BBC Newsnight

The cabinet has asserted itself and Boris Johnson will serve as a "caretaker" prime minister, a newly appointed member of the cabinet has said.

Robert Buckland told BBC Newsnight that the prime minister will lead a cabinet that ensures the day to day operation of the government is carried out "efficiently and smoothly".

Boris Johnson has resigned as leader of the Conservative party. But he plans to follow convention by remaining as PM until the Conservative party has elected a new leader.

Some Conservative MPs have called on him to stand down as prime minister immediately. They believe the collapse in cabinet support this week made his position untenable.

David Wallace Lockhart
BBC political correspondent

It's been confirmed to us that Michael Gove will not be standing to become leader of the Conservative Party.

Not everyone is pleased at the news that Grant Shapps is considering a run at being the next Conservative Party leader.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, which has been in a dispute with Shapps over rail workers' pay, conditions and possible job cuts, reacted to the reports by tweeting, external: "God help us all!!"

The union then jokes: "On the plus side, we might get a secretary of state for transport that will actually meet us!"

The RMT, whose members went on strikes last month, has consistently criticised Shapps for failing to take part in negotiations. He has insisted it is up to the unions and rail firms to settle their differences.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

It’s difficult to say as the process is complicated. While it's most likely to be in September or October, some of Boris Johnson's critics want the whole process to take place more quickly. That's technically possible, but the process is as much about politics as logistics.

The contest

The precise rules will be decided in the coming days by the Tory party’s 1922 Committee of backbenchers.

Once that happens, candidates will start gathering nominations from fellow MPs and declaring they are running.

Once the field is known, a series of ballots of Conservative MPs are held, with the lowest polling candidates being eliminated at each stage until only two remain.

The membership as a whole - so all members around the country, not just MPs - then decides which of the two will become leader, and hence PM.

Timings

The assumption in Downing Street is that all this will take until the autumn to complete.

The consensus is the field will be whittled down to the final two before Parliament's summer recess begins on 21 July. That kicks off the fight for members’ votes.

In any case, there will be a debate over whether the new leader takes over by September, or if Johnson gets to stay on until the Tory party conference in October.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the government will continue functioning until his successor is in position.

Writing on Twitter, external, he says the interests of the public "will be served" in the remaining time he's in No 10, thanking people for the "immense privilege" of being prime minister.

Image source, Reuters

Over at No 10, Boris Johnson's new cabinet have finished meeting - and among them was Attorney General Suella Braverman, pictured entering and leaving that famous black door.

It comes less than seven hours after Braverman announced her intention to run for the Tory leadership - having already called for the PM to stand down.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, .

The question on most people's minds is who'll be the next UK prime minister - and the list of potential candidates is lengthy.

Some new polling, external by YouGov, which saw more than 700 Conservative Party members surveyed, has Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as the clear favourite - with 13% of support - closely followed by Penny Mordaunt (12%), the minister of state for trade policy.

However, also notable is the fact that 12% of people voted for "none of the above" to take over as leader.

"It's a very tight race for first and second place currently," Patrick English, the associate director of YouGov's political and social research team, tells the BBC.

He adds that when researchers performed run-offs, to see which MPs would come out on top when whittling contenders down to the top two, Wallace came out on top against all others and by "huge margins - as big as 20% over Rishi Sunak, over Liz Truss and over Jeremy Hunt".

Danny Savage
North of England correspondent

From a south Yorkshire golf course, Dave Hodgson's been checking in for the latest news on Boris Johnson's resignation.

“We’ve got nothing really to replace him," he says. "I’m so sorry to see him go. I’m a supporter of him and think he’s done a lot for us.”

But a short distance away on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, we meet Peter Oliver, a former independent councillor, who has other thoughts.

He backed the Conservatives over Brexit, but they lost his support over Partygate.

“My mum was, and still is, in a nursing home. I’ve lost count of the number of months I wasn’t able to go and visit her,” he told the BBC.

In the Don Valley constituency, Boris Johnson's popularity won the Conservatives a seat in 2019. But his popularity has waned, says Thorne resident Moira Walker.

“He’s abused his authority too much," she said. "He upset too many people. I’m now concerned about who will follow and who is going to do the job.”

Image source, Wikimedia Commons

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is "seriously considering" running for the Tory leadership, according to PA news agency.

Shapps last night was part of a delegation of cabinet ministers who told Boris Johnson he should stand down.

A few moments ago we reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been meeting his new cabinet this afternoon and urging them to keep ploughing on with governing.

We spotted a few of them - new and old - entering No 10.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Images

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Images

Image source, PA Media

Chris Mason
Political editor

Boris Johnson has told his new cabinet that it is "not for me to do a major change of direction" in his remaining time in office.

The prime minister told senior ministers, new and remaining: "I don't expect you will be browbeaten by No 10 to do radical or strange new policies."

But he added there was "no excuse to take your foot off the pedal".

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has reacted to Boris Johnson resigning as Conservative leader today.

Wallace, who has been touted as a potential successor to Johnson, told reporters the PM would be "incredibly sad" to leave his post, but had "led from the front" on Ukraine, Covid and Brexit.

Wallace said the next prime minister needed to commit to investing in defence, praising Johnson for reversing a trend of declining defence spending.

Earlier today, new YouGov polling showed Wallace was the favourite among Tory members to replace Johnson.