The spectacular disintegration of Johnson’s political career could now be over in a few hours; while he has so far refused to budge, conservative lawmakers have been discussing reformulating their party rules and voting to oust him if necessary. By Wednesday evening, a delegation of Cabinet Ministers was reported to have arrived at Downing Street to ask him to leave.
“At some point, we have to come to the conclusion that this is enough,” Johnson told Parliament earlier Wednesday, former health minister Sajid Javid, the first of many ministers to step down in the past 24 hours. “I’ve come to the conclusion that the problem starts at the top and that’s not going to change.”
Five ministers resigned in one fell swoop on Wednesday afternoon, and by the end of the day, Johnson had lost more than 30 members of his government.
His longtime ally and senior cabinet minister Michael Gove also urged him Wednesday afternoon to admit his time was up, two senior advisers with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CNN. The news was first reported by Mail+, the Daily Mail’s digital platform. There was no official comment from Gove’s office on the matter.
“The public rightly expects the government to behave properly, competently and seriously,” Chancellor Rishi Sunak said in his resignation letter Tuesday evening. “I understand that this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.”
“The prime minister is constantly trying to distract himself from the problem, always trying to blame other people for mistakes … (he) has no choice but to take responsibility and resign,” added Conservative MP Gary Sambrook in Parliament. drawing applause and applause from legislators.
An endless series of scandals
Numerous prime ministers have been ousted from their posts in sudden and deadly uprisings within their parties, with leaders generally choosing to step down as soon as things fall into place. But the speed with which the Johnson government is heading for the abyss echoes several episodes in British political history.
This Pincher saga finally caused Johnson’s support base to crumble. Johnson barely survived a vote of no confidence in early June, but the rebels threatened to change the party rules and allow another vote in the near future unless Johnson resigned, and he can now be expected to lose.
A surly Johnson struggled to answer questions from the Prime Minister in Parliament, and then answered questions from MPs at a parliamentary committee meeting, during which he was supported by even more of his allies.
Johnson’s attempts to hold on to power were called “pathetic” by opposition leader Keir Starmer, who also turned his attack on several allies in his cabinet still supporting him. “Doesn’t a country in the midst of a crisis deserve better than nodding Z-list dogs?” Starmer asked in Parliament.
If Johnson resigns, a campaign for Conservative leadership will begin, with the winner also taking over as prime minister.
This person will need to deal with domestic issues such as the cost of living crisis hitting British households and inherit huge pressures from overseas. Johnson has developed a good relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and has been a leading contributor to Europe’s response to the Russian invasion.
Luke McGee of CNN contributed to the story.
