Boris Johnson has once again started the spin cycle: With an angry declaration of resignation, the ex-prime minister shakes his Tory party up again. Is the party now threatened with new trench warfare?
The drama is back in London. With a surprising resignation as MP and angry words, ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson has divided his Conservative party and put the British government before the next crucial test.
While the first calls for early parliamentary elections were heard over the weekend, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may be facing trench warfare within his party. Johnson’s own future is uncertain.
Johnson announced on Friday that he would be stepping down from his mandate as MP with immediate effect – at least for the time being, as he noted. The reason for this is apparently that, according to a parliamentary committee, the Conservative is said to have lied to the House of Commons in the “Partygate” affair about illegal celebrations in Downing Street during lockdown times. The proposed penalty: 10 days’ suspension – enough, in theory, to trigger a by-election in Johnson’s north-west London constituency. The ex-premier then threw it down, which automatically leads to a vote.
The committee’s report has not yet been published. But Johnson’s words leave no doubt as to the conclusion that the MPs involved must have reached: he had received a letter from the committee in which it made it clear that it was determined to use the procedure to force him out of parliament, he claimed 58 year old. The committee now wants to meet on Monday and publish the report promptly.
Criticism of behavior during the pandemic
During the corona pandemic, government workers had repeatedly met in Downing Street and authorities to celebrate with alcohol and music, contrary to regulations. Johnson and Sunak were each fined for attending an event. The committee is investigating whether Johnson lied to Parliament over the scandal. Explosive: The majority of the committee members are Tories, ie Johnson’s party colleagues.
That didn’t stop Johnson, however, from garnishing his resignation announcement with angry attacks in all directions. In the best Donald Trump manner, he accused the committee of having organized a “witch hunt” against him as revenge for Brexit, of being “anti-democratic” and of being a “kangaroo court”, a kind of mock court. The committee did not present a “snippet” of evidence of its misconduct.
Indirect criticism of Sunak
Indirectly, Johnson hardly gave a good hair to Sunak, his successor. When he moved out of Downing Street in the summer of 2022 – pushed by his group after a series of scandals – the opposition Labor Party had only a small lead in the polls. It has now grown massively.
Sunak has not yet commented on Johnson’s resignation. However, he could now face serious consequences from the new quarrels. Rumors are swirling around in London that other MPs are preparing to resign – Johnson ally Nigel Adams announced his resignation on Saturday via Twitter. Nadine Dorries, another close confidante of the former prime minister, had resigned shortly before Johnson announced his resignation. If these cases increase – and with them by-elections for the corresponding seats – this would come at a bad time for Sunak in times of poor poll numbers.
Opposition positions itself
The opposition is already positioning itself to take the post-election mandates and then government power away from the conservatives. With three Tory resignations in the space of 24 hours, Labor leader Keir Starmer has called for Sunak to finally find his backbone and send the country to the polls. The leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, also spoke out in favor of new elections.
Political London racked its brains over the weekend over the tactics behind Johnson’s move. Several commentators suggested that he wanted to forestall the suspension. It cannot be ruled out that the beaming winner of 2019 will stand again in the parliamentary elections planned for 2024.
“As you might have guessed, Boris Johnson is unlikely to go unnoticed,” said BBC correspondent Chris Mason. Some in the party believe Johnson is finished – others believe he is still a long way from it.
Best position for a return?
Johnson ally Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote in the Mail on Sunday that it was definitely not about Johnson’s end in British politics. Rather, the dramatic step puts him in the best position to return as party leader should the position become vacant. He warned Tory leaders against blocking Johnson’s move to another mandate. “Any attempt to do so would shatter our fragile party unity and plunge the Conservatives into civil war.”
Energy Secretary Grant Shapps, on the other hand, remarked on Sky News that Johnson had withdrawn himself from the political arena by resigning. The world has put the dramatic times of Brexit and Corona behind it, Great Britain is in a quieter phase under Sunak. Sky News correspondent Rob Powell saw in these statements the government’s message that Johnson was “a yesterday’s man”. In the short term, there is a risk of greater instability among the Tories. “But in the longer term, it speaks to a broader hope in government that this bumpy road could see Boris Johnson stepping down from center stage and the psychodrama that so often accompanies him.”