A far cry from the triumph of his 2019 Downing Street debut under the promise of delivering Brexit, the Conservative leader faced the toughest day of his tenure on Wednesday, hemmed in by embarrassing cases and their flood of accusations of lies.
Faced with an avalanche of departures from his government and calls for resignation, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday showed his determination to remain in power, despite the unprecedented crisis in which repeated scandals have plunged him. A far cry from the triumph of his 2019 Downing Street debut under the promise of delivering Brexit, the Conservative leader faced the toughest day of his tenure on Wednesday, hemmed in by embarrassing cases and their flood of accusations of lies.
According to several British media, a delegation including several senior ministers was preparing to ask him to resign. Asked about this during a hearing before the heads of the parliamentary committees, Boris Johnson replied that he was not going to “comment live on political events”. “We will continue with the government of this country,” he said, moments after claiming he was having a “great” week.
Without warning, the Ministers of Health Sajid Javid and Finance Rishi Sunak slammed the door Tuesday evening, triggering the hemorrhage. Other members of the government, of lower rank, have in turn thrown in the towel one after the other, bringing to more than 30 the total number of departures on Wednesday afternoon. Boris Johnson remained combative. He judged that he would not be “responsible” to leave power in the current context, between the purchasing power crisis and the war in Ukraine.
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Bye Boris
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Earlier, during the weekly question and answer session in front of MPs, punctuated by laughter and loud mockery, Boris Johnson claimed that the “colossal mandate” given to him by voters in 2019 gave him the duty to ” Continue”. Opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer slammed a “pathetic spectacle” at the end of his reign, while Scottish nationalist SNP leader in the House of Commons Ian Blackford demanded a snap election. An idea that Boris Johnson rejected out of hand in the afternoon.
The resigning ministers had harsh words for the head of government, questioning his honesty. In front of the deputies, Sajid Javid detailed the reasons for his departure, convinced that Boris Johnson would not change: “that’s enough”, he launched, before some deputies resumed a mocking “bye Boris” launched by the One. Two. The resignation of Mr Javid and that of his finance colleague was announced on Tuesday evening when Boris Johnson had just issued an apology after a new scandal.
Mr. Johnson admitted having made a “mistake” in appointing Chris Pincher to his government in February, deputy chief “whip” in charge of parliamentary discipline for Conservative MPs. The latter resigned last week after being accused of touching two men. After claiming the opposite, Downing Street admitted on Tuesday that the Prime Minister had been informed as early as 2019 of old accusations against Mr Pincher, but that he had “forgotten” them.
“Integrity” in question
For Mr. Javid, 52, the British have a right to expect “integrity from their government”. Boris Johnson quickly replaced the two resigners by appointing his Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi to Finance and Steve Barclay, hitherto in charge of government coordination, to Health. But since the departures have multiplied. Early Wednesday afternoon, five secretaries of state jointly announced their resignation, calling on Boris Johnson to step down. A sixth resignation among the secretaries of state followed a few minutes later. According to a Savanta ComRes poll published on Wednesday, 72% of Britons believe the Prime Minister should resign.
Already significantly weakened by the scandal of illegal parties held in Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Johnson survived a vote of no confidence from his own camp a few weeks ago. But according to the British press, behind the scenes, the anti-Johnson are maneuvering to allow a new vote quickly, by changing the current rule which protects the head of government for another 11 months. The executive office of the powerful “1922 Committee”, competent to settle the question, was to meet in the afternoon of Wednesday.