[Added at 17:58 Swiss time: Sky News reports that senior Tory members, including the brand new cabinet member Nadhim Zahawi, will meet Boris Johnson tonight and tell him to resign].
It was clear before he came to power that Boris Johnson is unfit to lead the United Kingdom. Both as a journalist and as a politician, year after year, he made up stuff, lied regularly — and (largely) got away with it. That’s why he has no incentive to change.
When he lost the majority in the Commons, the opposition was divided. When his days seemed to be numbered because of party gate, Putin’s escalation of the war against Ukraine saved him.
In early June, Boris Johnson survived a vote of no confidence. But that was an inner-party vote. Only 211 of Tory Members of Parliament stood behind him, 148 thought it was time for him to step down. That actually meant that, in the House of Commons, the majority no longer trusted the prime minister — and this amidst the Brexit mess, an ongong pandemic and a war, not to mention the challenges of climate change and the systemic threat by China, as demonstrated for instance in Hong Kong, a territory for which the United Kingdom has an historic responsibility.
The latest blow to Boris Johnson’s career as prime minister came on July 5, 2022 when both the Health Secretary Sajid Javid and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak decided to resign because they no longer trust their leader after the Chris Pincher affair. They were not alone. The parliamentary aides to cabinet ministers Saqib Bhatti, Virginia Crosbie, Jonathan Gullis and Nicola Richards also quit, as did the Tory vice-chair Bim Afolami. Solicitor General Alex Chalk resigned. Among the latest people to quit today, July 7, are the education ministers Will Quince and Robin Walker and ministerial aide Laura Trott. You have to check the news all the time to keep up. This list may not be up to date. [Added at 15:39 Swiss time: additional resignations from the UK government on July 6 include Kemi Badenoch, Neil O’Brien, Alex Burghart, Julia Lopez, Lee Rowley; added at 17:04: so far 31 MPs have left the government benches in less than 24 hours. Among the latest are Safeguarding Minister Rachel Maclean, Parliamentary Private Secretaries Craig Williams and Mark Logan].
Boris home alone? The prime minister has no intention to step down. The same evening, he appointed Steve Barclay, former Downing Street chief of staff, as Health Secretary, and he appointed Nadhim Zahawi, former secretary of state for Education, as new Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister).
Rishi Sunak had been seen as a potential successor to Boris Johnson. But he was involved in party gate and his wealthy wife, Akshata Murty — through her father, she owns 0.9% of the Indian software company Infosys —, enjoyed non-dom status. It seems to be legal but it is politically inconceivable that the British finance minister’s wife pays just £30,000 a year in taxes to enjoy non-dom status. In short, Rishi Sunak’s days as a Boris Johnson rival seem over.
The case of Sajid Javid is different. The former Home Secretary, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and now former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to mention just a few of his career steps, is a party heavy weight not tainted by scandal. He is a potential rival for Boris Johnson.
At the same time, other important figures of the cabinet as Liz Truss, Dominic Raab, Michael Gove and others remain loyal to the prime minister.
Regarding potential early elections, Keir Starmer, although apparently an honest man, offers limits. The Remainer and former shadow Brexit secretary once — rightly — advocated a second referendum on Brexit. Later, he changed and put up with this strategic and economic blunder and — terrible timing — just on July 4, 2022 made public a speech setting out Labour’s five-point plan to “Make Brexit Work”. A terrible wording which echoes both Trump’s “Make America Great Again” as well as Boris Johnson’s “We are going to get Brexit done.”
In this speech, Keir Starmer said: “With Labour, Britain will not go back into the EU. We will not be joining the single market. We will not be joining a customs union.” He added: “We will not return to freedom of movement to create short term fixes. Instead we will invest in our people and our places, and deliver on the promise our country has.” In short, the Labour leader does not offer a credible alternative to the Conservatives.
A visionary leader should recognize that the UK’s future lies within the European Union, which accounts for roughly half of the UK’s imports and exports. Geography will not change. Rejoin may not happen tomorrow, but the long term plan has to be laid out now.
The only UK party consistently pro European are the Liberal Democrats. They need a credible, charismatic leader who can present himself as an alternative to Labour and the Tories.
In a YouGov poll made on July 5, 2022 an overwhelming 69% said that Boris Johnson should resign. Instead, he has no intention to step down. Boris Johnson’s program has always been Boris Johnson.
[Added at 14:27 Swiss time: Today, in a powerful statement in the Commons, Sajid Javid said regarding PM Johnson: “Enough is enough”].
Suggested book: Tom Bower: Boris Johnson: The Gambler. Virgin Digital, October 2020, 578 pages. Order the book from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de.
Beauty items at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
Documents :
Resignation letters by Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak as well as the letter by the former under-secretary Simon McDonald of Salford stating that Boris Johnson had been briefed in person about the Christopher Pincher affair:
On top: Boris Johnson (official photo as Foreign Secretary). Photo credit: www.gov.uk
Article added on July 6, 2022 at 12:24 Swiss time.
