Nicola Sturgeon: Sense of relief at Johnson exit

Nicola Sturgeon said there would be a "widespread sense of relief" after Boris Johnson announced his resignation.

The prime minister has stepped down as party leader after losing the support of his ministers and MPs.

Speaking outside Number 10, Mr Johnson said he would continue as prime minister until his successor was chosen.

But Scotland's first minister questioned if this was sustainable.

Ms Sturgeon told BBC Scotland: "The chaos and complete lack of integrity that has characterised Boris Johnson's premiership has in the last few days descended into complete and utter farce, and all at a time when people in every part of the UK are struggling with very real challenges.

• Follow live updates

• Johnson to stand down after wave of resignations

• Scottish secretary is only territorial minister left in PM's Cabinet

• Boris Johnson rejects Nicola Sturgeon's indyref2 call

"First and foremost there will be an overwhelming and very widespread sense of relief today that Boris Johnson's time as prime minister - which should probably never have been allowed to happen in the first place - is coming to an end."

She said it was incredible to suggest Mr Johnson would stay as prime minister for another three to four months. That was a view which her political opponent, Scottish Conservative Party leader Douglas Ross, agreed with.

'He will cause more chaos'

Ms Sturgeon added: "It is just an unsustainable proposition to say he will continue to inhabit Number 10. I'm not sure anybody could look at Boris Johnson and conclude he is capable of genuinely behaving as a caretaker prime minister.

"He will want to do things and in the process of that undoubtedly cause even more chaos than he has already."

She said the "democratic deficit" inherent in the Westminster government would not be fixed with change of PM.

Ms Sturgeon believed the Westminster system did not represent Scotland's best interests, adding "Scotland needs a permanent alternative to Westminster which is why the independence choice is so necessary".

Earlier, Ms Sturgeon said that although her differences with Mr Johnson were many and profound, she understood that leadership was difficult and brought with it many stresses and strains. She wished Mr Johnson and his family well on a personal level.

Mr Johnson had vowed to "keep going" following the wave of resignations despite senior members of his Cabinet, including new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, urging him to resign and "leave with dignity".

On Thursday morning, it emerged that Mr Johnson had decided to step down.

Boris Johnson thanked the public for allowing him to do "the best job in the world"

During his resignation speech in Downing Street, he said: "It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister.

"And I've agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week.

"And I've today appointed a Cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place."

Mr Johnson addressed the British public, telling them: "I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, but them's the breaks."

Scottish Tory Mr Ross said the decision to resign was the right one.

And he believed it would be "very difficult" for the prime minister to continue in the role for "several more months".

Mr Ross was speaking after Mr Johnson indicated he would resign, but before he made his statement outside 10 Downing Street.

The Scottish party leader told BBC Scotland: "I think it is very difficult for the PM to continue for several more months given what has happened with the resignations from his cabinet saying they can't continue to support him as ministers.

"We have a huge number of vacancies that now I am not sure even the PM in an interim basis can fill. And I believe the best option maybe is to have an interim PM which we have had during the Covid pandemic and indeed just as recently as a few weeks ago when Dominic Raab stepped up while the PM was in hospital and I think that maybe the best option."

Party political reaction

Following Mr Johnson's statement, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said that the country would be "breathing a sigh of relief that Boris Johnson is going".

He added: "This is a party that is rotten to the core, that allowed a cheat, a charlatan, a man devoid of any principles or any values to become the prime minister of this country - and they inflicted his carnage on this country for years."

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said it was a relief that Boris Johnson's "disastrous tenure as prime minister" was coming to an end.

He said: "Let's not kid ourselves: Johnson was never fit to hold high office. Those in the Conservative Party who facilitated Johnson's lying, his lawbreaking, and his incompetence must be held to account too."

The Scottish Liberal Democrats tweeted: "It has always been clear that Boris Johnson is unfit to lead our country. The public won't forgive the Conservatives for propping him up so long.

"Lifelong conservative voters are fed up with being taken for granted. Trust in the Conservatives has gone and it won't be coming back."

One might wonder if Nicola Sturgeon was secretly a little sad to see Boris Johnson go.

After all, the SNP love campaigning against him. He is a regular and prominent feature of their campaign ads - and a virtual stranger to those of the Scottish Tories.

Could there be a little part of the first minister which feels she's missed the chance to go up against Mr Johnson in an independence referendum?

She says no - and that escalating Westminster chaos will only bolster the case for independence.

Ms Sturgeon says any Tory prime minister is as bad as another, and would cheerfully take on any of the candidates for the job.

It remains unclear when she will have the opportunity though, be it in a referendum or a general election.

Mr Johnson's departure has thrown the playing pieces up in the air, and other leaders are largely waiting to see where they land.

This could be a moment where poltics is reset - making it very hard to predict or plan for what comes next.