Status: 07/07/2022 10:07 a.m
A good 50 members of the British government have resigned – including important companions of Prime Minister Johnson. New ones are added almost every hour. Even the new finance minister is demanding his resignation.
The list of UK government officials resigning in protest at their own boss is growing by the hour. This morning alone, Northern Ireland Minister Brandon Lewis, Security Minister Damian Hinds, Justice Minister James Cartlidge and Education Minister Michelle Donelan, who was only appointed on Tuesday, announced their resignations.
There are also several members of the government in subordinate positions. A total of around 50 high-ranking members of the government have resigned from their posts since Tuesday.
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Cabinet members call for Johnson’s resignation
There are also layoffs: Johnson fired Housing Minister Michael Gove on Wednesday evening. This is considered a close companion of Johnson and was a driving force behind Brexit.
Gove, along with numerous other leaders of the Conservative Tory party, had previously called on Johnson to resign in order to avert damage to the country and the party. Among them were Home Secretary Priti Patel, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who are allowed to remain in office.
The new finance minister, Nadhim Zahawi, also urged Johnson to resign immediately in the morning.
Competitors position themselves
In the morning, Attorney General Suella Braverman also joined the demands and said Johnson must resign. Although she does not want to give up her own position, she has already offered to be Johnson’s successor. “If there’s an election for party leader, I’ll run,” Braverman said.
Opposition leader Keir Starmer accused the prime minister in parliament of putting on a “pathetic spectacle”. The parliamentary group leader of the Scottish National Party, Ian Blackford, called for a new election.
Johnson still has “so much to do for the country”
Nevertheless, Johnson does not want to give up his position. “The Prime Minister is in an optimistic mood and will fight on,” Johnson’s parliamentary assistant James Duddridge told Sky News on Wednesday evening. Johnson got the mandate of 14 million voters in the last general election and “so much to do for the country”.
He had reportedly warned within the party of chaos and a defeat for the Conservative Tories in the next general election.
Decision next Tuesday
Next Tuesday, an influential committee that sets the rules for voting out the Tory party leader wants to clear the way for a second vote of no confidence. Johnson narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in his group just a month ago.
Under Tory party rules, no new attempt to overthrow the leader can be made for 12 months after the vote. A rule change would mean that a new vote of no confidence would be possible as early as next week. It is considered likely that Johnson will lose this time.
Johnson caught lying
The recent government crisis in Westminster was triggered by a series of affairs and scandals. It was about illegal parties in the corona lockdown and donation affairs.
Most recently, Johnson’s party colleague Chris Pincher, who is accused of sexual harassment but was promoted by Johnson, was the focus. It became known that Johnson had already been informed of allegations against Pincher in 2019. The prime minister had initially denied this, but then had to admit it and assured him that he had “forgotten” this fact.