Boris Johnson refers to himself as a 'booster rocket' and pledges to back Liz Truss during final speech as Prime Minister

Ms Truss will be officially appointed as Prime Minister on Tuesday, September 6 after a meeting with Her Majesty the Queen at Balmoral, where Mr Johnson will also formally submit his resignation.

She claimed a 57% to 43% victory over fellow leadership candidate Rishi Sunak, it was announced on Monday (September 5).

The Conservative Party leadership contest was triggered when Mr Johnson quit the top job after a revolt by senior ministers in July. At the time, he committed to resigning after the summer recess.

In his final speech before Tory MPs outside No 10 o Tuesday morning, Mr Johnson described his career as like a “booster rocket that has fulfilled its function and I will no w be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific”.

On having to end his premiership early, the outgoing Prime Minister continued: “The baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race, they changed the rules halfway through, but never mind that now.

“I will be offering this Government nothing but my most fervent support.

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“I say to my fellow Conservatives, it’s time for politics to be over, folks. It’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team, and her programme, and deliver for the people of this country.

“Because that is what the people of this country want. That’s what they need and that’s what they deserve.”

Making reference to his pets, Mr Johnson added: “If Dilyn and Larry can put behind them their occasional difficulties, then so can the Conservative Party.”

The outgoing Prime Minister also defended his time in office, saying he was “proud” of his legacy in terms of delivering Brexit and the Covid vaccination programme.

On the ongoing war in Ukraine he added that Vladimir Putin was “utterly deluded” if he thought he could succeed by “blackmailing and bullying” the British public through restricting gas supplies, driving up world prices.