Great Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson will resign, after scores of government ministers had quit and advised him to do so.
PM Boris Johnson says the UK will continue to back Ukrainians' fight for freedom "for as long as it takes", as he announces his resignationhttps://t.co/qiq4yHpPpB pic.twitter.com/92FFHQEmVu
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) July 7, 2022
On Wednesday, Johnson, the head of Great Britain’s Conservative party (Tory party), met with Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, whom Johnson had appointed only on Tuesday after his predecessor Rishi Sunak had stepped down.
Zahawi told Johnson, 58, that his situation was “not sustainable.” He was echoed by Education Secretary Michelle Donelan, who also had been appointed in the previous 36 hours. Fifty-two government ministers have resigned.
“A Downing Street source said Johnson has spoken to Sir Graham Brady – the chairman of the parliamentary group the 1922 Committee – and agreed to stand down, with a new Conservative leader set to be in place by the party conference in October,” The Daily Mail reported.
Two possibilities exist; Johnson may stay in office until a new leader is chosen or he may step down from the position. Speculation has arisen that former Prime Minister Theresa May could serve as a temporary replacement until a successor is chosen.
Johnson’s downfall was catalyzed by reports that he and his friends in government had held parties during the lockdowns imposed on the citizenry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, he was harshly criticized for his knowledge of sexual misconduct allegations against Chris Pincher before he promoted him to deputy chief whip.
Donelan announced she was quitting on Thursday morning; two hours earlier Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis had made the same announcement, followed by Treasury minister Helen Whately, who stated, “There are only so many times you can apologize and move on.”
Their resignations were followed by those of security minister Damian Hinds, science minister George Freeman, and pensions minister Guy Opperman. Attorney General Suella Braverman urged Johnson to resign.
If Johnson called for a dissolution of Parliament and new elections in an attempt to survive, Queen Elizabeth could refuse his request based on the “Lascelles principles,” which say she can refuse if Parliament is “vital, viable and capable of doing its job”; a new election would be “detrimental to the national economy,” or if she can determine “another prime minister who could govern for a reasonable period with a working majority.” Conservative party senior members think all three of those prerequisites are met.
Johnson, the former mayor of London and a champion of Brexit, came to power after he quit as May’s Foreign Secretary in 2018; she had championed a “’third way” Brexit plan. May failed to succeed with her Brexit deal in Parliament three times, then resigned. In July 2019, Johnson won a crushing victory in July 2019 to become leader of the Tory party and subsequently the prime minister, although the Tories were in the minority.
Johnson called for new elections, which were held on December 12, 2019, preaching, “Get Brexit Done.” The Tories won 365 seats, the biggest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher’s reign.
During Johnson’s reign, the nation’s rollout of the COVID vaccine was one of the fastest in the world. “By October 2021, over 40 million Brits — around 85 per cent of adults — had received at least one dose of a Covid jab,” The Daily Mail noted.