Commenting on the announcement that Boris Johnson will step down as Prime Minister, but not until a new Leader of the UK Conservative Party is elected, South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth said,

“People across our region will breathe a sigh of relief that this charlatan will soon be out the door of No.10 but the fact that in his resignation speech he still said  he should have been allowed to continue says all you need to know about Boris Johnston.

“Boris Johnson should have quit months ago and local Tory MPs and MSPs who continued to back him when he was breaking the law time after time are complicit in inflicting his carnage on our country. We should never forget that time after time they all backed him and more damagingly his policies.

“Any party who allowed this cheat and liar to rule for so long is unfit to govern and that’s why we need not just a change of Prime Minister but a General Election so we can have a change of Government.”