In London, Boris Johnson’s days as Prime Minister are numbered. Far from the triumph of his Downing Street debut in 2019 under the promise of achieving Brexit, the head of the Conservative government faced this Wednesday the most difficult day of his mandate, faced with an unprecedented number of resignations in his camp and surrounded by embarrassing cases and accusations of lies. Several leading ministers have asked him to resign as the situation has become untenable.
Health and finance ministers slammed the door first
But Boris Johnson refuses to step downsaying he wants to dedicate himself “extremely important issues” which the country is facing. The Prime Minister even sacked his Minister Michael Gove, in charge of territorial rebalancing, who had also called on Boris Johnson to leave. Health Ministers Sajid Javid and Finance Ministers Rishi Sunak, they slammed the door on Tuesday evening, followed by other members of the government.
Accusations of lies
The resigning ministers question in particular the honesty of Boris Johnson, just after the Prime Minister issued an apology following a new scandal. He admitted to having made a “mistake” by appointing Chris Pincher to his government in February, in charge of parliamentary discipline for Conservative MPs, who had to resign last week after being accused of touching two men. After claiming the opposite, Downing Street admitted on Tuesday that the Prime Minister had been made aware of old charges against Chris Pincher as early as 2019, but that he had “forgotten“.
72% of Britons in favor of his resignation
According to a Savanta ComRes poll published on Wednesday, 72% of Britons believe the Prime Minister should resign. Already considerably weakened by the scandal of illegal parties held in Downing Street During the Covid-19 pandemic, Boris Johnson survived a vote of no confidence from his own camp a few weeks ago. But today, his situation seems untenable.