UK  Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to step down after a fatal onslaught of resignations in protest over his leadership.

The PM  spoke to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, and agreed to stand down, No 10 sources are saying. 

The decision was reportedly taken at about 8.30am.

The slew of resignations continued on Thursday morning, as David TC Davies, the parliamentary under-secretary for Wales, claimed publicly to have effectively turned down the department’s Cabinet role, vacated by Simon Hart last night.

New education secretary Michelle Donelan became the fifth Cabinet minister to tender  resignation after accepting the role on Tuesday night, with MJohnson’s new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi also publicly urged him to “do the right thing and go now”.

The collapse in Cabinet support came after it emerged  Johnson promoted Tory MP Chris Pincher despite knowledge of misconduct claims against him.