Boris Johnson has left Downing Street for the final time as Prime Minister as he told the nation “the baton will be handed over” to Liz Truss after the Tory leadership “unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race”.
Speaking in Downing Street, Mr Johnson bemoaned the manner in which he has been forced out of No 10 as he accused Tory MPs who ousted him of having “changed the rules halfway through”.
He said: “This is it folks. Thank you everybody for coming out so early this morning. 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, the baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race, they changed the rules half way through but never mind that now.”
In what was a typically bombastic speech, Britain’s outgoing prime minister pointedly took aim at those lawmakers in his Conservative Party he blames for forcing his resignation and, almost to prove them wrong, went on to list what he sees as his successes during his time as premier.
He also offered a tantalising reference for classics scholars, when he compared himself to Cincinnatus, a Roman dictator who, despite his old age, left his small farm to take control of the Roman state to fight an invasion in 16 days.
Cincinnatus returned to his farm, but legend has it he was recalled a second time to fend off another crisis, prompting some to wonder whether Johnson, 58, would try to stage a comeback.
“Let me say that I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function and I will now be gently reentering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific,” Johnson said in front of the door of Number 10 Downing Street.
“Like Cincinnatus, I am returning to my plough.”
(Source The Telegraph/Reuters)
