British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned Thursday over a series of scandals surrounding his behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic and demands from his own party.

“It is clearly now the will of the Parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister, and I’ve agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now, and the timetable will be announced next week,” said Johnson in London.

“And I have today appointed a cabinet to serve — as I will — until a new leader is in place.”

“And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.”

“And let me say now, to the people of Ukraine, that I know that we in the UK will continue to back your fight for freedom for as long as it takes.”