The drop of water that broke the already well-filled vase. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is weakened by the resignation of four ministers on July 5 and 6, who threw in the towel after a new scandal involving someone close to the Conservative leader. Another blow for the Prime Minister and the Conservative Party, regularly targeted by business. Franceinfo takes stock of the main issues that embarrass the majority.
A renovation of the Prime Minister’s apartment which is causing debate
In 2020, Boris Johnson and his partner decided to have their company apartment renovated. They have £30,000 of dedicated public funds, but the work will ultimately cost at least £112,000 according to the Guardian*. Beyond the price, it is on the origin of the funds that the controversy has focused. The works were initially paid for by the Cabinet Office, a government body dedicated to this type of expenditure, but the Conservative Party received £52,000 from a party member sitting in the House of Lords to pay the bills , reports the BBC*.
This donation has earned Boris Johnson accusations of corruption: text messages show that he would have in exchange promised the parliamentarian to consider plans for a “great exhibition” (without further details on the nature of this event). The Prime Minister claims to have since reimbursed all expenses, but the party was fined 17,000 pounds for not declaring the donation correctly. Boris Johnson also had to apologize for failing to provide the government’s ethics adviser, who was leading an investigation, with crucial text messages about the case.
Clandestine parties in the midst of a health crisis
The “Partygate”. It is a scandal that has followed the Prime Minister since November 2021. Boris Johnson and members of his government are accused of having organized more than a dozen clandestine parties between May 2020 and April 2021, while the confinements put in place faced with the Covid-19 crisis forced the British to reduce their contacts.
The Prime Minister first said that “sanitary rules had been followed at all times”. But the findings of an administrative inquiry published in May claim that “many of these events shouldn’t have been allowed”and the police imposed a fine on Boris Johnson, unheard of for a Prime Minister in office.
New parties have also been revealed recently: the British media ITV News published in May photos of a leaving drink in November 2020, during the second confinement. These new elements and the conclusions of the investigation revived the indignation of the deputies, who submitted the Prime Minister to a vote of confidence. Only 59% of Tory MPs backed their party leader, enough to escape dissolution but still lower than the score that pushed her predecessor Margaret Thatcher to resign in 1990.
Sex scandals involving several Conservative MPs
Tory MPs have been involved in sex scandals throughout Boris Johnson’s tenure. One was temporarily suspended in May 2021 for inappropriate behavior. Another was suspended in April 2022 after a series of charges including sexual harassment and cocaine use, reports the Guardian*. A third, whose identity has not been revealed, was arrested on suspicion of rape and then released on bail in mid-May.
Two other Members of Parliament resigned: one in April after admitting he had viewed pornography inside the House of Commons, the other after being sentenced in May to 18 months in prison for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy. These departures caused partial legislative elections and heavy defeats for the conservatives.followed by the departure of party chairman Oliver Dowden.
Cabinet member charged with sexual assault
The latest scandal concerns Chris Pincher, the deputy chief “whip”. This member of the government, responsible for convincing the deputies to respect the government line, was accused by several British media of sexual assault on two men, dbefore witnesses at a private club in central London on June 29. According to according to Sky News*, one of the two victims would be a deputy. London police say they have received no reports of an assault, but media say complaints have been made with the party.
The 52-year-old elected official, appointed to this post by Boris Johnson in February, submitted his resignation letter to the Prime Minister the day after the accusations. There’s acknowledges having “too much drunk” and apologizes for having “covered with shame, [lui] and other people”.
Boris Johnson accepted his resignation, but this scandal splattered him: when older accusations against Chris Pincher re-emerged in the wake of this affair, Downing Street initially denied being told before appointing him. But the Government’s version has been discredited by a former senior civil servant who claims Boris Johnson was briefed “in person”explains the BBC*.
Faced with these declarations, the government had to reconsider its version: it admitted that the Prime Minister had been informed of these accusations, but that he had “forgotten”. Boris Johnson explained on Tuesday June 5 that “it was a mistake” to appoint Chris Pincher and thought “sorry to those affected”reports Subway*. But this scandal, and this umpteenth change of version of the head of government, were too much for the four ministers who submitted their resignation on June 5 and 6. One of the resigners, the Secretary of State for Children and the Family, explained that he had no “no choice” to make this decision after rehearsing “in good faith” in the media elements provided by the Prime Minister’s office “which turned out to be inaccurate”.
* All links followed by an asterisk lead to links in English.