Status: 01/13/2022 3:28 p.m.
Has the ever-relaxed British prime minister lost the sense of what he can afford? Many Britons do not accept Boris Johnson’s apology for his lockdown garden party – even party friends keep their distance.
To call Douglas Ross a “lightweight” is a cheek: the politician is chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party, sits in the lower house and in the Scottish regional parliament. In Germany one would perhaps describe his role as chairman of the national group. The fact that the ultra-conservative Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg dubbed him as a lightweight was the receipt for Ross’ clear words for Prime Minister Boris Johnson: He is no longer sustainable as chairman of the Conservative Party and as Prime Minister, Ross said after Johnson said the words in the House of Commons “Sorry” but his sentences didn’t sound like an apology at all.
Johnson admitted he was at the garden party at the seat of government on May 20, 2020, but also made it clear that he assumed the gathering in the 10 Downing Street garden was a business meeting. Ross and his clear statement on these events is remarkable and symptomatic at the same time for the Conservatives: In the party, more and more MPs are distancing themselves from Johnson. The dispute over the party chairman within the Conservative Party has reached the public with great intensity.
Arrogance drives parts of the country apart
In the exchange of blows between Ross and Rees-Mogg, the whole arrogance of London’s power is also evident: Scotland is very far away for many MPs – not just geographically. The country has a certain degree of independence, its own regional parliament and a party, the Scottish National Party, which fights for independence and has 48 members in the lower house. So telling the Scottish Conservative Chairman that he is lightweight is precisely the arrogance that drives the wedge deeper into the Union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
But other Tory MPs are also turning away – albeit less vociferously. The party is afraid that Johnson, who was able to get so many votes with his relaxed manner and unconventional appearance, has now lost political flair and is stumbling from scandal to scandal.
Labor is now ahead in the polls. In the media, those affected speak about the fact that they were not allowed to visit their relatives in the hospital in May 2020, but at the same time there were parties at Number 10 Downing Street.
Late calls for support from loyal followers
The line of those who stand behind Boris Johnson is still halfway closed. Liz Truss, the foreign minister, who is also traded as the successor, defends Johnson in her tweets as does Priti Patel, the interior minister and hardliner when it comes to asylum policy and border protection.
Rishi Sunak, on the other hand, the popular finance minister, was not in the House of Commons yesterday. He wasn’t sitting behind Johnson, where he usually nods in agreement when the Prime Minister needs support in the debate. Sunak had an appointment with a pharmaceutical company that announced investments and jobs.
Hours after the debate, Sunak wrote on Twitter that Johnson had done everything right to apologize and that it was time to wait for the final report of the investigation. Active support looks different. Many see this reluctance as evidence that Sunak may be waiting for the right moment to replace the prime minister.
Sue Gray, a government official, plans to submit the final report on the parties next week. There are already jokes about what new information this report is supposed to bring – the evidence is overwhelming. In a letter of invitation from which the broadcaster ITV quoted, it was said: “Let’s make the most of this beautiful day” and “bring your own drinks”. It doesn’t sound like a work meeting.