‘This is it folks’: Boris Johnson bows out with pledge to fully support new UK prime minister

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – “This is it folks,” Boris Johnson said in his final address to the nation as prime minister on Tuesday.

“In only a couple of hours, I will be in Balmoral to see Her Majesty the Queen and the torch will finally be passed to a new Conservative leader,” Johnson said in front of 10 Downing Street, addressing several Tory MPs, civil servants and an army of journalists.

Signaling that he will continue to play an active role in British politics, Johnson said: “Let me say that I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific.”

He vowed to offer the government of incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss “nothing but the most fervent support.”

Speaking about his government’s work, Johnson hailed his team as “a fantastic group of public servants, the people who got Brexit done, the people who delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe.”

“Together, we have laid foundations that will stand the test of time whether by taking back control of our laws, or putting in vital new infrastructure, great solid masonry on which we will continue to build together paving the path of prosperity now and for future generations.”

Blaming Russia’s “vicious war” on Ukraine for the energy woes plaguing Europe, Johnson said the UK has the “economic strength to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis.”

Putin “is utterly deluded” if he believes “he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people,” he said.

“I know that Liz Truss, and this compassionate Conservative government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis, and this country will endure it and we will win,” he added.

- Will support Truss ‘every step of the way’

Johnson acknowledged that families across the UK are facing a “tough time.”

“We can and we will get through it. We will come out stronger on the other side. But I say to my fellow Conservatives, it’s time for politics to be over. It’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team and her program and deliver for the people of this country,” he said.

“I will be supporting Liz Truss and the new government every step of the way.”

Johnson delivered his farewell address shortly before travelling to Scotland to tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, as the 96-year-old monarch has been advised not to travel.

Later in the day, the queen will meet Truss and formally ask her to form a new government.

This is the first time these meetings will be held at the queen’s Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire instead of Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.​​​​​​​