Boris Johnson resigns party leadership

AFP – London – Boris Johnson, under unbearable pressure after losing the support of his British Conservative Party due to incessant scandals, resigned as leader of the party on Thursday, but will remain in the post of prime minister until his successor is chosen.

“It is clearly the will of the conservative parliamentary group that there is a new leader of the party and, therefore, a new prime minister,” Johnson acknowledged when announcing his resignation in a message to the nation in front of the famous black door of number 10 Downing Street.

The Conservative Party will now have to elect a new leader over the summer to replace Johnson, probably from October, as its leader and therefore as head of government.

Meanwhile, the controversial Johnson declared himself determined to continue leading the country, and to make it clear on Thursday he appointed new ministers and secretaries of state to replace the avalanche of resignations.

For the leader of the opposition, Labour Party Keir Starmer, his future departure is “good news”, but it is not enough.”We need a real change of government,” he said considering a motion of censure against the government to precipitate the calling of early general elections.

Events accelerated early on Thursday when almost 60 members of the Johnson government had already resigned in a relentless bloodletting that began on Tuesday with two heavyweights: Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid.

On Thursday, the new finance minister, Nadhim Zahawi, appointed on the same Tuesday, joined those who called on the prime minister to leave. “You know in your heart what is right, go now,” he wrote in a letter posted on Twitter. Michelle Donelan, appointed to the education portfolio on Tuesday to replace Zahawi, also tendered her resignation less than two days later.

“A decent and responsible government is based on honesty, integrity and mutual respect,” said the minister of Northern Ireland, the hitherto loyal Brandon Lewis,

adding his name to the list of resigners. “I deeply regret having to leave government because I believe these values are no longer respected,” he said.

Surrounded by scandals
Johnson had survived the multiple scandals that surround him forget for a few months thanks to his determined action in helping Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

In early June, Johnson survived a no-confidence vote by his own MPs, thanks to the support of 211 of his 359 lawmakers, but the 148 votes against him made it clear that discontent was growing. According to British media, he would now only have the support of 65 MPs.

From the so-called “partygate” -the scandal over the parties organized in Downing Street during the confinements of 2020 and 2021-, to the irregular financing of the

luxurious reform of his official residence, going through accusations of cronyism, the scandals around Johnson t multiplied.

The resignations of Javid and Sunak took place hours after Johnson apologized for the umpteenth time, acknowledging that he made a “mistake” by appointing Chris Pincher, a Conservative official who resigned last week accused of groping two men, one of them an MP.

Having claimed otherwise, Downing Street acknowledged on Tuesday that the prime minister had been informed of earlier allegations against Pincher in 2019 but had “forgotten” them.

Lost magic
Champion of the 2019 legislative elections, when he achieved the most important conservative majority in decades thanks to the promise of carrying out Brexit.

According to polls, a majority of Britons consider him a “liar” who must be investigated by a parliamentary commission to determine if he knowingly deceived MPs when in December it denied the celebration of parties that violated anti-covid legislation.

And the fact that he claimed to be unaware of the accusations against Pincher when many claimed otherwise and ended up acknowledging his “forgetfulness”, reinforces the accusations that the prime minister was playing with the truth.

Recent electoral setbacks, the latest on June 23, in two midterm elections, have convinced a growing number of rebels in the Conservative Party that Johnson can no longer lead them to a  general election in 2024.