Number of ministerial resignations in UK governments 1979-2022, by prime minister

Boris Johnson is resigning as Prime Minister of the United Kindom after a large number of government ministers resigned from their positions between July 5-7, 2022. As of July 7, 45 government ministers had resigned from Johnson's government since taking power in 2019, the highest of any Prime Minister since 1979, including that of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair who were in office for much longer periods. Johnsons's popularity had been declining for some time, with just 25 percent of people thinking he was the best choice for Prime Minister in May 2022, compared with 40 percent a year earlier. Johnson's sinking popularity is heavily associated with a number of scandals, especially 'partygate', which concerned Johnson and government officials breaking their own lockdown rules to attend social gatherings at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Johnsons survived a vote of no confidence in his leadership on June 6, 2022, his authority was badly shaken by two by-election defeats that month.