The British government has been crippled by the unprecedented political crisis surrounding Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s future, which was put an end to by his office on Thursday. In the aftermath of ethics scandals, Boris Johnson has rejected calls from his Cabinet to resign. After his government’s more than 40 ministers resigned and told him to leave, he finally gave in.
A representative of Johnson’s Downing Street office indicated that the resignation announcement will come later. Due to the fact that the announcement had not yet been made, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Johnson would continue serving as prime minister while the Conservative Party selects a new leader to take his position.
Just 36 hours after Johnson nominated him to his position as Treasury chief, Nadhim Zahawi called on Johnson to resign, while another newly appointed Cabinet minister resigned minutes before the story broke.
Johnson knew that “going now” was “the correct thing to do,” according to Zahawi.
Late on Tuesday, Rishi Sunak quit, claiming he could no longer back Johnson in light of a string of ethics issues. Sunak was replaced by Zahawi.
Michelle Donelan, the secretary of education who was also appointed on Tuesday after her predecessor resigned, gave notice of her resignation on Thursday morning.
Boris Johnson has resisted calls for him to resign, standing his own even as numerous staffers left and former allies pleaded with him to do so after yet another scandal rocked his administration.
Johnson received a visit from a number of his closest Cabinet allies on Wednesday, warning him that he had lost the confidence of his party and should step down. Johnson, however, decided to fight for his political career and dismissed Michael Gove, one of the Cabinet members, according to British media.
A prime minister rarely manages to maintain his position in the face of such intense pressure from his Cabinet counterparts. On Thursday’s top page of The Guardian, he was described as “Desperate, misguided.”
Boris Johnson, 58, was well-known for his ability to get out of awkward situations. Despite accusations that he was too close to party funders, shielded allies from intimidation and corruption accusations, deceived Parliament, and lied to the public about government office parties that violated pandemic lockdown laws, he managed to stay in power.
The last straw, however, turned out to be recent revelations that Johnson was aware of claims of sexual misconduct against Conservative politician Chris Pincher before elevating the man to a senior position.
Following charges that he groped two men at a private club, Pincher resigned last week from his position as deputy chief whip. This led to a number of revelations concerning prior accusations made against Pincher, as well as varying government explanations about what Johnson knew when he chose him for a key position enforcing party discipline.
Sajid Javid, the secretary of state for health, and Rishi Sunak, the head of the Treasury, both resigned on Wednesday due to the scandal. The cost of living crisis and COVID-19 were two of the largest problems facing Britain, and they were both in charge of addressing them.