Watched by his wife Carrie and their baby son Romy, Johnson said it was 'clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader' as he spoke outside London's Number 10 Downing Street.
'The process of choosing that new leader should begin now. And today I have appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will until a new leader is in place,' a forlorn Johnson told reporters, standing in front of the famous black door.
Johnson said he will remain in the role while a leadership contest is held to choose his successor. Critics say he should not be allowed to remain as caretaker PM and he should be removed from office as soon as possible.
He continued to say he was 'immensely proud of the achievements of this government,' from Brexit to steering the country through the pandemic, and leading the West in standing up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
But he acknowledged that 'in politics, no one is remotely indispensable.'
The British leader admitted defeat 30 minutes after a shattering intervention from finance minister Nadhim Zahawi, who was only appointed on Tuesday night in the wake of the departure of predecessor Rishi Sunak.
Zahawi told Mr Johnson that his situation is 'not sustainable'.
However, Johnson today is lining up a 'unity Cabinet' as he battles to stay in office for months longer.
Until now, Johnson had rebuffed calls by his Cabinet to step down in the wake of several ethics scandals.
A group of Johnson's most trusted Cabinet ministers visited him at his office in Downing Street Wednesday, telling him to stand down after losing the trust of his party. But Johnson instead opted to fight for his political career and fired one of the Cabinet officials, Michael Gove.
It is rare for a prime minister to cling on to office in the face of this much pressure from his Cabinet colleagues.
But by Thursday morning the man who has built a reputation for wriggling out of political controversies was forced to admit the reality of his situation.
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