British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a vote of no confidence in the British Parliament today that could remove him from office. Conservative Party lawmakers will speak out on whether they will continue to rely on the prime minister’s ability to stay in office.
The vote comes amid the scandal known as “Partygate”, with parties taking place in government offices and even in the garden of the prime minister’s official residence amid the curfew during the coronavirus pandemic.
Johnson’s tenure was more vigorously debated after the report of Sue Gray, an officer responsible for investigating allegations of sanitary violations by government officials, was published in May. The report confirmed that several parties took place during the pandemic, some of which Johnson joined, while the rest of the country was living under government-imposed restrictions.
The 60-page document states that the celebrations, which violated the rules to combat the covid, violated the guidelines regarding the health crisis at the time, and included 83 government-affiliated people in total. Gray also pointed to the existence of “leadership failure”, “excessive alcohol consumption” and “various instances of lack of respect for security and cleaning staff”.
Given this evidence, 15% of MPs from the Conservative Party, of which Boris Johnson is a member, signed the no-confidence motion, meaning that 54 out of 359 lawmakers supported the vote to remove the prime minister. The decision is made between 18:00 and 20:00 local time (between 14:00 and 16:00 Brazilian time).
Johnson needs 180 votes to stay in office. If the Conservative Party doesn’t win that majority, it will have to choose another name to lead the party and assume the post of prime minister.
How did Boris Johnson come to power?
Boris Johnson’s tenure began in July 2019 when he was elected leader of the Conservative Party and appointed prime minister. He took office after the resignation of his conservative colleague Theresa May, who did not resist pressure in the face of difficulties in the process of executing Brexit (the UK’s exit from the European Union).
In fact, May survived the no-confidence vote, but was forced to resign months later after failing to pass the proposed Brexit transition deal. So, even if Johnson survives Monday’s vote, it could weaken as it did with its predecessor.
After taking office in 2019, Johnson said his main tasks will be to promote Brexit, unify the country and defeat Labor opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Johnson supported Brexit while serving as mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. Later, she served as the Secretary of International Relations under Prime Minister Theresa May from 2016-2018.
Johnson, 57, has some blunders, controversial statements, and a political career that likes to be the center of attention, while becoming quite popular among a significant portion of the Conservative Party.
His victory for mayor of London was the Conservative Party’s first major victory since Tony Blair took over as prime minister in 1997.
Johnson was re-elected mayor in 2012 and increased his political power. He was born in the United States in 1964 while his parents, both British, lived in New York.
But in 1969 he moved to the west of England with his family. He retained his American citizenship until 2006 when he renounced. Of Turkish, French and German descent, Johnson is the son of a former member of the European Parliament.
He studied at Eton College, one of England’s most traditional universities, and graduated in classical studies at Oxford University, another academic reference in the country.
In college, he joined the famous Bullingdon Club, a former male student-only club. usually rich? is known for drinking parties and mayhem.
Later he started working as a journalist. But in his first internship on the job, he was fired from the Times for fabricating a description of an alleged interviewer.
Johnson, 23, wrote a story about the archaeological discovery of a 14th-century palace and coined a phrase to be told in the text by his godfather, historian Colin Lucas.
In an interview with a BBC documentary in 2013, Johnson said he regretted the act. “It was horrible… I remember a deep, deep sense of shame and guilt,” she said.
After Johnson resigned, he worked for Express & Star and the Daily Telegraph, where he served as a Brussels correspondent and assistant editor.
Beginning of political career
He entered the political scene definitively when he was elected as a member of parliament in 2001. Three years later, he was fired from a high position in the Conservative Party hierarchy for allegedly lying about an extramarital affair.
He was re-elected to the post the following year, however, and was elected mayor of London in 2008. His decision to run for mayor stirred the race and he won with 54% of the votes.
Days after the victory, Johnson banned the consumption of alcohol on public transport. As an avid cyclist, he started a bike rental program in London, informally known as “Boris bikes”, and renewed his bus fleet.
Johnson has represented London as the most recognizable city in decades, hosting the 2012 Olympics. In 2011, he told the BBC he had no intention of taking on “another big role in politics” after leaving mayor.
However, Johnson returned to Parliament elected from a northwest London suburb in 2015. He was one of the main political figures in the 2016 referendum on the UK’s accession to the European Union, supporting the pro-Brexit vote that would eventually be victorious.
With the departure of Prime Minister David Cameron, Johnson was one of those scheduled to take over the government in 2016, but was forgotten after losing the support of campaign coordinator Michael Gove, who questioned his leadership skills.
The post eventually went to Theresa May, and Johnson became secretary of state. He served as chancellor for two years and left the post after several disagreements with May over Brexit.
For example, in June 2018, he announced that the then prime minister should show “more courage” in negotiations with the EU? and in that regard, he had the unequivocal support of then-US President Donald Trump, who later said Johnson would “do a great job as a prime minister” and deal with May’s “disaster” in Brexit.
Brexit
In 2016, Johnson was one of the leading figures in the pro-Brexit campaign during the referendum.
He has been known for his attacks on the European Union, and many have accused him of “exaggerating” and even “lying” in their criticism of the bloc and its defense of the supposed benefits of Brexit.
The most controversial part of this period was when the UK claimed to send £350m (approximately R$1.6bn) a week to the EU. However, critics pointed out that the figure was incorrect, as it did not take into account how much was returned by the EU, or even how much of that money was later spent in the UK.
As promised during Johnson’s tenure as prime minister, the UK did indeed complete its exit from the European Union in January 2020. But his government’s actions in the face of the covid pandemic have eventually become the biggest source of tension.
While several European countries quickly accepted restrictions to contain the first wave of the pandemic, Johnson was reluctant to take the same measures. He later backed off, but his reluctance earned him criticism among those who felt that the reaction should be delayed.
Criticism intensified as the UK became one of the countries with the highest Covid infection and death rates in the world.
In April 2021, he was criticized again for telling his aides that he would rather see “corpses piled up” than imposing another UK curfew. The speech was reported to the BBC and other organizations by eyewitness sources, but was denied by Johnson.
But the pressure on the prime minister only became serious after reports of social incidents were held at his official residence while restrictive rules were in effect.
According to British media, at least 17 social gatherings were to be held at Johnson’s official residence on Downing Street during the pandemic, of which 16 were the target of Sue Gray’s report.
The UK was in different stages of social distancing when the parties were held.
In one of them, 100 people were invited to have drinks in the gardens of the official residence in May 2020. Johnson was one of 30 people who actually attended, but said he believed it was an “indirect business event.”
A month later, the prime minister’s birthday would be celebrated in the office of his official residence. In total, the London Metropolitan Police issued 126 fines for disorderly incidents. In addition to Boris, his wife Carrie and finance secretary Rishi Sunak also joined the penalty list.
Prior to Sue Gray’s report, several senior members of the Conservative party had called for Johnson to resign as prime minister and party leader.
Also, prior to the debate over partying amid the pandemic, Johnson experienced other crisis moments in his political career after some controversial and much-criticized speeches.
In one, he referred to homosexuals as “vagrants.”
In another, he declared that Muslim women wearing veils with only their eyes visible were like “mailboxes.”
source: Noticias
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