UPDATED: Québec Premier François Legault announces resignation

Quebec premier and leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party, Premier François Legault has announced his resignation.Legault is making way for a new leader to head up the Québec nationalist CAQ in the upcoming provincial election this fall.Legault's resignation comes after a prolonged and sustained period of extremely poor polling. With projections on 338Canada showing his party is currently expected to win only 2 seats and 18% of the popular vote, down from 90 seats and over 40% of the popular vote in the 2022 election.This announcement also comes after the pro-independence party, the Parti Québécois, has surged in the polls and gobbled up the heartland of CAQ support, which mainly resides in the rural regions of the province.Legault has been premier of Québec since 2018 and leader and founder of the CAQ since its inception in 2011."For the best interests of the party and for the best interest of Quebec, I'm announcing today that I'm resigning as Premier of Quebec," Legault said in a press conference Wednesday morning."Every single day I got up in the morning, I said to myself, 'I want to do what is best for the people of Quebec,'" said Legault. "I didn't always succeed, but I can guarantee you that I tried. I tried very hard."He then went on to thank party staff, his family, volunteers, and all Quebecers who allowed him to be premier, which he called "the greatest honour of my life."The CAQ will be looking at this announcement as an opportunity to give themselves a political refresh in the lead-up to what may be seen as the most consequential Quebec election in the last decade.