Boris Johnson took so long to resign because he’s only ever had his own best interests at heart

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

Any reasonable person would have agreed to go days or weeks ago (AFP/Getty)

Boris Johnson has, at last, been persuaded to stand down as leader of the Conservative Party, and resign as prime minister. We might wonder what has caused him to finally see the light.

Any reasonable person would have agreed to go days or weeks ago. But he has always done what was best for Boris – not best for the country, not best for his party, but best for himself.

All the signs recently have indicated that he might have lost the plot. He said he was unable to remember what he had been told about Chris Pincher. He seemed unable to understand whether or not he was at a party. His general demeanour was one of bumbling incompetence.

Perhaps his repeated untruths were simply because of his state of confusion? And in recent days his insistence that he, personally, has a mandate to govern smacks of Trumpian delusion.

Call me an old cynic, but I have to suspect that he’s realised that if, like other former PMs, he is to make money from public appearances, then he must begin to present at least some semblance of reason.

Susan Alexander

Frampton Cotterell

A bright Brexit future

Now that Boris Johnson has finally resigned, who will lead us to the promised sunny uplands, that bright future Brexit has promised?

Who will keep order of the queues lined up to sign trade agreements with the UK? I am in despair.

Gunter Straub

London

Wrecking ball

By playing fast and loose with our constitution and letting Brexit deprive us of a leading position in the world, Boris Johnson has done more damage to our country than any other single individual in its history.

Good riddance.

Tim Montagnon

Rutland

Hostile environment

How wonderful to see Boris Johnson, who has based his premiership on persecuting immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, being on the receiving end of a “hostile environment” for a change.

The dustbin of history awaits him.

Sasha Simic

London

A mortifying mess

There really is no apparent end to the ability of dedicated Tory voters to turn a blind eye to the horribleness of the party they support.

As Boris Johnson sinks beneath the waves, his crew fall over each other at the last minute to desert the sinking ship, even having the audacity to try and cloak themselves in “honour” as they do so, viz Sajid Javid’s self-praising “I’m not one of life’s quitters.”

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment, sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

And yet Tory voters are now speculating on the worthiness of each of the mega-rich candidates hoping to be the next prime minister to be foisted upon the sickened rest of us.

However, Sally Charlwood of Richmond, Yorkshire, quoted in your article, is a fine exception, describing Rishi Sunak, brilliantly, as an “oozer”. We should be shown repeats of him standing in for the PM in pre-election TV debates when I remember thinking “a very ambitious yes man”.

Meanwhile, the police have still not decided whether Keir Starmer’s curry broke Covid rules. The British police appear to have only two speeds, dead slow and stop. While they faff about, the Labour opposition is held in limbo.

What an unholy, mortifying mess this poor old country has been dragged into.

Penny Little

Great Haseley