Who runs the country after a Prime Minister resigns?

Last week, Boris Johnson announced that he was resigning as the British Prime Minister. This came after it was discovered that he knew about the sexual assault charges on the former Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher, despite him claiming he didn’t know that when he appointed him.

Now that he has resigned, Sky News has revealed that the next Prime Minister won’t be revealed until September 5. So in the meantime, who runs the country?

‘Caretaker Prime Minister’

According to CNN, when a Prime Minister resigns, they usually stay in office until their replacement has been chosen.

When this happens, the former Prime Minister is no longer called ‘Prime Minister’, instead, they are known as ‘caretaker Prime Minister’. But what does this actually mean?

A caretaker Prime Minister is someone who ‘temporarily runs the government until a new leader is appointed,’ as reported by The Independent.

Critics don’t want Johnson to stay

During his speech, Johnson said that he would stay in office until his replacement has been chosen. However, many believe that this isn’t a good idea. Indeed former Prime Minister, John Major expressed that this would be ‘unwise and may be unsustainable’.

John Major wrote in a letter to the Chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, Graham Brady:

The proposal for the Prime Minister to remain in office -- for up to three months — having lost the support of his Cabinet, his Government and his parliamentary party is unwise, and may be unsustainable.

Dominic Cummings, who wasJohnson’s most senior adviser has also spoken out about Boris potentially staying in office:

We're all in for a nightmare if he's allowed to squat.

Read more:

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⋙ Boris Johnson won the no-confidence vote, what does this mean for the UK?

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