He ended up giving in. Mired in several cases and disavowed by members of his party, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced, Thursday, July 7, his resignation as leader of the Conservative party, paving the way for the appointment of a new head of government in the United Kingdom. . A major decision for the country, but not unprecedented, explains Clémence Fourton, lecturer in English studies at Science Po Lille, author of the book The United Kingdom, a country in crisis? (ed. The Blue Rider). She analyzes for franceinfo the consequences of this decision.
Franceinfo: Is Boris Johnson’s resignation a surprise?
Clemence Fourton: It is a major event in political life in the United Kingdom but which was expected. It had become inevitable. Boris Johnson pushed back on that move as long as he could, but eventually caved under constitutional pressure after losing the support of the government and its MPs.
“The Constitution of the United Kingdom, which is unwritten but where everything is done by habit, provides that the Prime Minister must resign when he no longer has the confidence of his government.”
Clémence Fourton, UK specialistat franceinfo
I therefore distinguish constitutional pressure from political pressure. It has been more than six months that he has been weakened with political pressure linked to “Partygate”, this holiday affair at Downing Street during the health crisis, but he had not then resigned.
It is the accumulation and acceleration of resignations in his government during the last 48 hours that has pushed Boris Johnson to resign. If he had not done so after the expression of this distrust, we would have entered into an institutional crisis.
Can we speak of a historic decision?
This is not the first time a Prime Minister has resigned in recent UK history. Margaret Thatcher (1990), David Cameron (2016) and Theresa May (2019) also resigned. But it was then a question of political divergence: David Cameron, defender of the “Remain”, resigned the day after the vote in favor of Brexit and Theresa May because she was unable to carry out Brexit. This is the whole difference with Boris Johnson, for whom the criticisms are formulated around his person.
“His downfall is tied first to who he is more than to any other political dispute, even though questions of personality are never entirely inseparable from political action.”
Clémence Fourton, UK specialistat franceinfo
What will happen in the UK in the coming days?
A dozen people from the Conservative Party are beginning to declare themselves candidates to replace him. Conservative MPs will select two. Then, there must be internal elections to choose the new party leader from among the finalists. The winner will become prime minister.
The question that arises now is that of the interim. Boris Johnson has announced that he wants to ensure it himself until the appointment of the new Prime Minister. He doesn’t seem to want to leave power. However, internal pressures are pushing him to leave now, like theformer Prime Minister John Major.
Boris Johnson maintains that he is elected and therefore does not risk being illegitimate to govern pending the election, but he may still crack under pressure in the coming days.
Do we know the favorites to replace him?
There is no one who particularly stands out for this succession. Ben Wallace, the Minister of Defence, is quite popular. There is also the current Minister of Finance, Nadhim Zahawi, and his predecessor, Rishi Sunak, who resigned a few days ago, or Liz Truss, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“What is certain is that there is going to be a fairly violent struggle among the Conservatives.”
Clémence Fourton, UK specialistat franceinfo
Everything must be decided no later than October at the time of the Congress of Conservatives, but nothing prevents the choice from being made before. A compromise solution would be that the election takes place this summer, during August for example, and that the Prime Minister takes over until then. What is certain is that this is the end for Boris Johnson, but it is only the beginning of a period of uncertainty for the United Kingdom.