British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, weakened by the resignations of 15 members of his Government against a backdrop of mounting scandals, said Wednesday that he intends to remain in office despite the difficulties.
At the weekly question session in Parliament, he gave a chaotic defense of his achievements since taking over as head of government three years ago and cited the problems he still wants to solve, such as the UK’s cost of living crisis. “The job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances, when you have been given a colossal mandate, is to keep going and this is what I am going to do,” Johnson said.
Opposition leader, Labour’s Keir Starmer, accused him of presenting a “pathetic spectacle in the last act of his political career.” On Tuesday night, Health Minister Sajid Javid and Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announced their respective resignations at almost the same time. They were followed by more than 15 lower-ranking members of the government in a bloodletting that continued on Wednesday with several state secretaries.
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Several lower-ranking members of the Government followed suit in a bloodletting that continued Wednesday morning. Among the resignations was that of the Secretary of State for Children and Families, Will Quince. He said he “had no choice” after he presented the press with information provided by Johnson’s office “that turned out to be inaccurate.”
Other members of the Executive, loyal to Johnson, defended the political balance of the Conservative leader, who during the afternoon is expected to appear before the so-called “Liaison Committee”, formed by the chairmen of the different parliamentary committees and responsible for examining the work of the Government.
Among the committee members are some of Johnson’s biggest critics within the Conservative Party.
“Integrity” of the Government
The resignations of Javid and Sunak, two government and party heavyweights, came just hours after Johnson apologized for the umpteenth time by admitting that he made a “mistake” by appointing to an important parliamentary post Chris Pincher, a Conservative who resigned last week and acknowledged that he groped, while intoxicated, two men, including an MP, at a private club in central London.
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After claiming otherwise at first, Downing Street acknowledged on Tuesday that the prime minister had been briefed in 2019 about previous charges against Pincher, but had “forgotten”.
The resignation of 42-year-old Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian origin, comes at a difficult economic time, with the cost of living rising in the UK and accusations that the Government is not doing enough to help struggling families.
Britons expect the Government to behave in a “competent and serious manner, and this is why I am resigning,” Sunak wrote in his message to Johnson. Javid, 52 and of Pakistani origin, said that the British need “integrity from their Government.”
Maneuvering against Johnson
From the so-called “partygate,” the scandal over parties held in Downing Street that flouted anti-Covid rules in 2020 and 2021, to the irregular funding of the lavish renovation of his official residence, to accusations of dubious appointments, the scandals keep growing around Johnson.
Big winner of the December 2019 parliamentary elections, when he secured the most important Conservative majority in decades thanks to his promise to deliver Brexit, the prime minister has lost much of his popularity.
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Polls show majority of Britons consider him a ‘liar’ Johnson will be investigated by a parliamentary committee to determine whether he knowingly misled MPs when in December he denied the parties that were organized during the confinements.
And the fact that he claimed he did not know about the charges against Pincher when many claimed otherwise and that he acknowledged “forgetfulness” reinforces accusations that the prime minister plays with the truth. Recent electoral defeats, such as the June 23 by-election in two legislative by-elections, are convincing a growing number of rebels within the Conservative Party that Johnson can no longer lead the party into the general election scheduled for 2024.
The prime minister survived a vote of no confidence in early June, a move by party rebels to try to remove him from power. Backed by 211 of the 359 Conservative MPs, Johnson managed to remain in office, but the 148 votes against him made internal discontent evident.
