Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation on Thursday amid a massive uprising among top members of his government, marking the end of three tumultuous years in power in which he blatantly bowed down and at times flouted the rules of the government.
The months of defiance almost ended with a shrug as Johnson stopped at 10 Downing Street and admitted that his party wanted him gone.
“It breaks,” he said.
The brash 58-year-old politician who pulled the UK out of the European Union and ruled it through COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine has been dogged by many scandals, including the appointment of an impeached politician. about sexual misconduct.
The dirtiest prime ministers didn’t come out clean. Johnson immediately resigned as leader of the Conservative Party but said he would remain prime minister until the party chooses a successor. According to him, the timetable for the process will be announced next week.
But many in the party want him gone before then, and his government has been torn apart by dozens of resignations.
Possible candidates to replace him include: former Health Minister Sajid Javid, former Treasury Chief Rishi Sunak, Foreign Minister Liz Truss and Defense Minister Ben Wallace.
Johnson has been in power for two days and defiantly told lawmakers on Wednesday that he had a “colossal mandate” from voters and that he intended to continue the government’s work.
But he was forced to admit defeat on Thursday morning after one of his closest allies, newly appointed Treasury chief Nadim Zahavi, publicly told him to step down for the good of the country.
“I have been trying to convince my colleagues for the past few days that it would be eccentric to change governments when we give so much and when we have such a big mandate,” Johnson said outside his office. I regret not being successful in these arguments and of course it pains me not to be able to see so many ideas and projects.
About 50 cabinet secretaries, ministers and lower-level officials have left the government in recent days, often criticizing the prime minister for dishonesty.
The mass layoffs left many positions vacant and the crisis interrupted the work of some parliamentary committees because there were no ministers to speak for the government.
“It is now clearly the will of the Conservative Parliamentary Party to be the new leader of that party and therefore the new prime minister,” Johnson said.
Zahavi, who was promoted earlier this week as Johnson sought to confirm his cabinet, said he and a group of colleagues had raised their concerns privately with the prime minister on Wednesday and decided to go public after Johnson ignored the advice. to resign.
“It breaks my heart that he has not listened and is now undermining the incredible achievements of this government,” Zahavi said in a letter posted on Twitter. “But the country deserves a government that is not only stable, but acts with integrity.”
It’s a humiliating defeat for Johnson, who not only ended Brexit but is also credited with running one of the most successful mass vaccination campaigns in the world to fight COVID-19.
But the always scruffy and furry frontman, known for greeting critics with bravery and fury, was also criticized for acting as if the rules didn’t apply to him.
Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, replacing Theresa May, who resigned after parliament rejected the Brexit deal she negotiated with the European Union. Johnson forged her own Brexit deal in an often messy and stormy debate.
He managed to stay in power despite accusations that he was too close to party donors, that he shielded his supporters from accusations of intimidation and corruption, and that he misled parliament about government parties that violated COVID-19 lockdown rules. He was fined by police for party affiliation and survived a vote of no confidence in parliament last month, in which 41% of Conservative lawmakers voted to impeach him.
The recent revelation that Johnson knew about allegations of sexual misconduct against a Conservative lawmaker before he was promoted to a top government post turned out to be a major scandal.
The crisis began when Chris Pincher resigned as deputy manager amid allegations he assaulted two men at a private club. This led to a series of reports about previous allegations against Pincher.
Johnson tried to deflect criticism with fickle explanations of what he knew and when, but that only underscored concerns that the prime minister was being unreliable.
Javid and Sunak resigned within minutes of each other on Tuesday night, sparking a wave of layoffs among their cabinetmates and lower-level staff.
Javid captured the mood of many lawmakers when he said Johnson’s actions threatened to undermine the integrity of the Conservative Party and the British government.
“At some point, we have to conclude that enough is enough,” he said Wednesday in the House of Commons. “I think that point is now.”
Bernard Jenkin, a senior Conservative MP, told the BBC he had met with Johnson and advised him to step down.
I just told him: look, now you go and go like this. You can walk away with dignity or you can force it, like Donald Trump clinging to power and pretending to win the election when he loses,” Jenkin said.
July 7th at 5 am. Updated story with Johnson’s dismissal and quotes.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
