Boris Johnson resigns as British Prime Minister – National | Globalnews.ca

Boris Johnson resigned as Britain’s prime minister on Thursday, ending one of the toughest terms for a world leader in modern times after a series of scandals shook his government’s confidence in him.

His departure marks a notable fall from grace for the charismatic Conservative leader, who just two and a half years ago was celebrating a landslide election victory and the full backing of his party.

Johnson had already vowed to step up as prime minister after narrowly surviving a confidence vote last month that was sparked by changing stories about COVID-19 lockdown-breaking parties at government offices, some of which he attended.

But that stance proved untenable after two of his top cabinet ministers resigned on Tuesday over similarly screwed-up explanations about their handling of a sexual misconduct scandal that dogged a recent government appointee.

Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid resigned within minutes of each other, costing Johnson the support of the men responsible for tackling two of the biggest problems facing Britain: the crisis. of the cost of living and the increase in COVID-19 infections.

Those two were then followed by Solicitor General Alex Chalk, who also joined four parliamentary private secretaries, the Conservative Party deputy chairman and two business envoys in ditching Johnson and resigning.

In their resignation letters, cabinet officials said that Johnson’s credibility had been shattered by the growing list of scandals, with Chalk adding that public confidence in the government under his current leadership had been “irretrievably broken”.

Johnson had repeatedly proven himself adept at combating criticism and political scandal, from his previous roles in Parliament and as Mayor of London.

He came to power as Conservative leader in 2019 after Theresa May resigned, and proved critics wrong that December when his party won the largest majority government since Margaret Thatcher in 1987. He went on to finalize leaving the country. of the European Union, which had persecuted May’s government, as well as her predecessor, David Cameron.

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But pundits and even some Conservative MPs suggested this week that the wave of cabinet resignations would be too much to bear.

The latest scandal began on Thursday, when Chris Pincher resigned as deputy whip chief amid allegations that he groped two men at a private club. That set off a series of reports about past allegations leveled against Pincher and questions about why Johnson promoted him to a high-level position to enforce party discipline.

Pincher denies the accusations.

Johnson’s office initially said it was unaware of the earlier allegations when he promoted Pincher in February. By Monday, a spokesman said Johnson was aware of the allegations that “were either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint.”

But in a highly unusual move, Simon McDonald, the most senior official at the UK Foreign Office from 2015 to 2020, went public with claims that the prime minister’s office was not telling the truth.

McDonald said in a letter to the parliamentary standards commissioner that he received complaints about Pincher’s behavior in the summer of 2019, shortly after Pincher became a minister in the Foreign Office. An investigation confirmed the allegation, and Pincher apologized for his actions, McDonald said.

“Mr. Johnson was briefed in person on the initiation and outcome of the investigation,” McDonald wrote.

Hours after the McDonald’s comments were published, Johnson’s office changed its story again, saying the prime minister had forgotten that Pincher was the subject of an official complaint.

Then, minutes before Javid and Sunak announced their resignations, Johnson told reporters that Pincher should have been fired from the government after an earlier incident from 2019.

Asked if it was a mistake to appoint Pincher to the government, Johnson said: “I think it was a mistake and I apologize for it. In hindsight, it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Johnson’s changing explanation fueled discontent within the cabinet after ministers were forced to publicly deliver the prime minister’s denials, only for the explanation to change the next day.

Johnson’s authority had already been shaken by last month’s confidence vote. Although he survived, 41 per cent of Conservatives voted to remove him from office. But until Tuesday, his cabinet had remained largely loyal.

Concerns about Johnson’s leadership were fueled by his responses to months of accusations about lockdown parties at government offices that ultimately resulted in 126 fines, including one imposed on Johnson.

Two weeks later, Conservative candidates were soundly defeated in two special elections to fill vacant seats in Parliament, increasing discontent within Johnson’s party and suggesting that the ongoing accusations were resonating with the public.

Even before the Pincher scandal, suggestions arose that Johnson would soon face another vote of no confidence.

Existing rules require 12 months between such votes, but several Conservative lawmakers have suggested they would support changing the rules in an upcoming vote on the issue.

—With Associated Press archives