Boris Johnson promised full support for his incoming successor, Liz Truss, on Tuesday as he exited Downing Street for the last time as British prime minister to submit his resignation.
The outgoing prime minister, whose tenure was marked by so much controversy, said goodbye to supporters before proceeding for an audience with the Queen.
Boris likened himself to “one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function” and would splash down “in a remote and obscure corner of the Pacific.”
He promised: “I will be supporting Liz Truss and the new government every step of the way.”
Liz Truss, 47, was declared winner of an inside vote of Conservative party members on Monday, after the race to succeed Boris kicked off in July.
Kwasi Kwarteng, Business secretary, is set to become finance minister, and attorney general Suella Braveman, home secretary, while foreign affairs would be handled by James Cleverly.
The appointments would mean that for the first time ever, no white man would be in Britain’s four main ministerial posts.
Johnson, 58, is still a popular figure among grassroots Tories as a charismatic election winner, who carried the country out of the European Union.