In less than three years after a landslide election victory for Boris Johnson he has stepped down, forced out by many, due to his own violation of rules and parliament misconduct. Read below at how it all went down.
A little less than three years ago, Mr. Johnson led the Conservative Party to its biggest election victory in decades but little did we know his own party lawmakers would want to force him out.
In early June his party, backedEd him in a no-confidence vote, yet on July 7, after a new scandal prompted a vast majority of resignations and denunciations from cabinet ministers and other officials, he announced that he would step down once his party had chosen a successor and here’s what lead to of this:-
The Pincher case. Mr. Johnson’s downfall is connected with the resignation of Chris Pincher, a Conservative deputy chief whip, after he admitted to having groped two men. Outrage grew as it was revealed that Mr. Johnson was aware of prior sexual misconduct allegations against him when he appointed him; the prime minister had previously denied knowing about the accusations.
A wave of resignations. The revelations prompted the unexpected resignation of two of Mr. Johnson’s highest-ranking ministers — the chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, and the health secretary, Sajid Javid. That was followed by a flurry of resignations of other ministers and officials, capped by Mr. Johnson’s decision to step down.
The ‘Partygate’ scandal. Since late last year, Mr. Johnson had been grappling with reports about parties he attended in Downing Street while Covid lockdown rules were in force. An internal inquiry found that 83 people violated the rules at parties, and the police imposed hundreds of fines, including one on Mr. Johnson, for breaches of social distancing. Mr. Johnson survived a no-confidence vote triggered by the scandal, but was left reeling politically.
Other scandals. The prime minister’s reputation had also been tarnished by his staunch defense of a Conservative lawmaker for violating lobbying rules, his government’s contentious plans to change the system that investigated that lawmaker and the costly refurbishment of his apartment at No. 10 Downing Street, for which he secretly used funds from a Conservative Party donor.
The process that will decide Mr. Johnson’s successor, however, has a record of producing surprises, but this time, the result is due on Sept. 5. That would give the new prime minister time to prepare for a major televised speech at the Conservative Party’s annual conference next month.
Listen To Podcast S3 E13 Great Britain – Is It Still Great?
Comments