July jolt for May government gets bigger as Boris Johnson quits as foreign secy

London, July 9: It was a July jolt for the May government in the UK as Boris Johnson quit as the country's foreign secretary on Monday, July 9. He became the third minister in 24 hours to walk out of the government rather than support the Prime Minister Theresa May's plans for a soft Brexit officially scheduled on March 29 next year.

May chalked out a compromise with her polarised cabinet on the issue on Friday, July 6, but Johnson eventually decided against promoting the plan. The pressure was also mounting on him after the exit of David Davis as the Brexit secretary on Sunday, July 8, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Steve Baker.