British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has no intention of resigning, one of his senior ministers said on Thursday, dismissing media speculation that he might do so to trigger an election.

"I don't think the prime minister has any intention of resigning. He was elected in a leadership election, in which I took part. He won that leadership election, he won the argument in that election," Michael Gove, the British minister in charge of coordinating no-deal Brexit planning, said.

The remarks come shortly after Johnson's younger brother, Jo, resigned as a junior minister and said he would also step down as a lawmaker, citing a conflict between family loyalty and the national interest.

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British PM's brother Jo Johnson resigns as MP and minister

Johnson's government abandoned attempts in the upper house of parliament to block a law aimed at stopping the country from leaving the European Union (EU) without a deal.

The move paved the way for Johnson being required to ask the EU for a three-month extension to the Brexit deadline, if he fails to reach a renegotiated transition deal with the bloc by the middle of October.

Johnson has said he is opposed to an extension and that he is prepared to take Britain out of the EU without a deal if necessary.

Conservative Party members of the upper house of parliament had tabled a series of amendments in an attempt to run down the clock on the delay bill and prevent it being passed before parliament is suspended on Monday.

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MPs back Brexit delay bill in first vote

But in the early hours of Thursday, the government in the upper house, known as the House of Lords, announced it was dropping its opposition to the legislation.

Richard Newby, an opposition member of the Lords, who had taken his duvet to parliament in preparation to spend the night discussing the law, said the government dropped its opposition after suffering heavy defeats on some of the proposed amendments.

"There was a realization by those on the other side that this was more than usually stupid, and they were looking stupid, and we needed to find a way forward," he told BBC Radio.