UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party on Thursday, after a series of scandals and the collective resignation of more than 50 members of the government.
Boris intends to remain in office until the autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, so that the Conservatives have time to elect a new leader to succeed him.
“It is clear now that there must be a new leader of the Conservative Party and thus a new prime minister,” said Boris Johnson.
“I will serve until a new leader takes over,” he added.
The premier said a timetable should be detailed next week, and the process of choosing a next leader starts now.
Boris Johnson said he will support the new leader to be decided. “To the public, I know that many will be relieved. I am sad to be handing over the best job in the world,” he said.
“The reason I fought so hard is because I felt it was my duty. I am immensely proud of my achievements,” he added.
“I regret not being successful in staying [no cargo]”, he said, at another time. He said that “no one is indispensable in politics”, until there is a new prime minister, “the public interest will be served”.
Johnson’s announcement comes amid scandals that have dominated the world’s news in recent months. The trigger came after the collective resignation of more than 50 members of his government.
Boris Johnson has been Prime Minister for three years, having been elected on internal UK Conservative ballots in July 2019, replacing Theresa May, who had resigned.
Criticism regarding Johnson’s management was intensified in January this year, when information leaked that the prime minister had held parties in the garden of the official residence of Downing Street, in London, during the first lockdown against the coronavirus.
The revelations about a string of parties in Downing Street have met popular derision with criticism from opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer, who said Johnson lacked the moral authority to lead the country.
However, the main and most recent cause of instability is related to lawmaker Chris Pincher, sacked last Thursday amid allegations that Johnson had appointed him to his government despite being aware of allegations of sexual misconduct.
When new reports of other cases related to Pincher while he was foreign minister emerged, it was denied that the prime minister knew anything about the situation.
However, after difficulties in providing explanations, Johnson’s team said that he was aware of the allegations, but that they had been “resolved”.
On Tuesday morning, Simon McDonald, a former foreign ministry official, revealed that Johnson had been personally briefed on the outcome of an investigation into the former government official’s conduct, sparking a wave of backlash. layoffs throughout the day.
The prime minister acknowledged on Tuesday that “it was a mistake” to appoint Pincher to his government, but the damage had already been done.
government waivers
The situation worsened on Wednesday (6), with the resignation of a number of high-ranking colleagues who said he was not fit to govern.
At least 54 members of the UK government have asked to leave. Of the 22 who make up the prime minister’s cabinet, the key nucleus of the government, two have already left.
Johnson’s finance and health ministers resigned late on Tuesday after the latest scandal hit the government, prompting the departure of government officials and a withdrawal of support from loyal lawmakers.
Check out the list of members who resigned from the UK government this week here.
The crisis unleashed this week appeared to be the most serious during the administration of Boris Johnson, but it was not the first.
Illegal prorogation of Parliament
Critics of the government have often accused the prime minister of flouting government procedure and bending the rules when it suited him, such as when he decided to ask the queen to suspend or close parliament for five weeks at the height of a political crisis over Brexit. .
The monarch complied, in line with her duty to stay out of politics and act only on the advice of ministers of state.
But when the Supreme Court ruled that the extension was illegal, it raised the uncomfortable question of whether the Queen had broken the law. The decision led to accusations that the Johnson government deliberately misled the monarch as part of her strategy to secure Brexit.
Johnson was forced to apologize in person, according to the Sunday Times.
The botched overtime was just one example of Johnson’s disregard for parliamentary rules and standards. He supported Home Secretary Priti Patel after an investigation into employee intimidation found she violated the Ministerial Code and failed to “treat her public officials with consideration and respect”, with “behavior that can be described as intimidation”.
Johnson’s ethics adviser Alex Allen resigned over the case.
The apartment renovation
One of the first scandals Johnson faced was an allegation of corruption after WhatsApp messages revealed he had asked a Conservative Party donor for funds to renovate his Downing Street residence. British news agencies reported that the work cost around US$280,000.
Political donations and loans are tightly controlled in the UK, with loans of over US$10,400 registered and publicly revealed by a commission four times a year.
Johnson did not report the donations and, as a result, the Conservative Party was fined £17,800 by the Election Commission in December last year.
Owen Paterson Lobby Scandal
Last year, Johnson tried to force Conservative lawmakers to vote in favor of lifting the suspension of a fellow party member of Parliament.
Owen Paterson, an influential Conservative member and former cabinet minister, faced a 30-day suspension after being accused of a “serious” violation of lobbying rules.
After a backlash, Johnson turned around and Paterson eventually stepped down.
The Liberal Democrats won Paterson’s seat – one that the Conservatives held for nearly 200 years – in the subsequent election in December.
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson, 58, has been leading the United Kingdom since 2019, after being elected in July 2019 in an internal poll by the Conservative Party – which he is president -. Previously, Johnson was foreign minister and mayor of London.
Politician, writer and journalist, Johnson was born in New York, United States, because his father studied economics at Columbia University.
At a young age, he moved to Brussels and London to study. He graduated in Classical Studies at Balliol College, Oxford, where he chaired the Oxford Union.
As a journalist, he worked for newspapers such as The Times, Daily Telegraph and The Spectator.
His political career began in the 2000s; in 2001 he was elected to represent the district of Henley-on-Thames in Parliament. In 2004, he was elected vice-president of the Conservative Party and in 2008 he began the post of Mayor of London after winning close elections in 2007. He was re-elected Mayor of London in 2012.
After leaving City Hall with good approval ratings, in 2016 he was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
On July 23, 2019, Johnson was announced as the new leader of the Conservative Party and formally designated as Prime Minister.
In his first speech in office on 24 July, he said one of his priorities was to secure the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.
*With information from CNN International
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
