British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who came under intense pressure after losing support from the Conservative Party, is getting closer to resigning.
The BBC reported that Johnson will leave the party leadership on Thursday, that is, he will also step down from the head of government. Downing Street also announced that he will deliver a speech to the British during the day.
Nadhim Zahawi, the new finance minister, appointed on Tuesday after Rishi Sunak announced his resignation and sparked the worst crisis of Johnson’s tenure, joined calls for the prime minister’s resignation on Thursday after the head of government lost support from the Conservative Party on Thursday. scandals.
“Know what’s right in your heart, now go,” he wrote in a letter posted on Twitter.
Michelle Donelan, who replaced Zahawi as education minister on Tuesday, submitted her resignation just 48 hours after taking over the post.
Since Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid left on Tuesday afternoon, another resignation has come from the hitherto staunch Northern Ireland Minister Brandon Lewis, who put the number of resignations in the Executive to over 50.
“Good and responsible government is based on honesty, integrity and mutual respect,” Lewis said. “I deeply regret having to leave the government because I believe these values are no longer respected,” he said.
Keir Starmer, leader of the Labor Party, the main force in the UK opposition, said the prime minister’s resignation was “good news”.
However, he thought that changing the leader of the Conservative Party was not enough. “We need a real change of government,” Starmer said.
Johnson resisted
On Wednesday night, Johnson fired Housing and Local Government Minister Michael Gove, his right-hand man in the 2016 Brexit campaign, who wanted his resignation for the party’s sake, to show that he has no intention of leaving without a fight. and country. country.
On Wednesday afternoon, a group of Johnson’s close associates, including Home Secretary Priti Patel, appeared on Downing Street to ask him to admit he was unable to continue in office without party support.
According to The Sun newspaper, Johnson told colleagues he needed “blood on his hands” to fire him.
But headlines in the British press on Thursday morning highlighted the indefensible position of the head of government.
The Daily Express, a pro-conservative newspaper, referred to Johnson’s “final battle”, and the Daily Telegraph said the prime minister was “mortally wounded”.
No functional government
Javid and Sunak’s resignations come just hours after Johnson apologized for the tenth time, admitting he had made a “mistake” by nominating conservative Chris Pincher, who resigned last week and admitted groping, for the top house seat. Including a surrogate at a private club in central London.
After initially stating otherwise, Downing Street admitted on Tuesday that the prime minister had been briefed in 2019 about previous allegations against Pincher, but “forgotten”.
The British expect the government to “act with authority and seriousness, so I resign,” Sunak told Johnson in his message. Javid said the British needed “honesty from their government”.
maneuver against Johnson
The prime minister survived a no-confidence vote in early June, an attempt by party rebels to oust him from power.
Backed by 211 of the 359 Conservative MPs, Johnson managed to stay in office, but the 148 votes against him clearly showed domestic discontent.
Party rules state that this procedure cannot be repeated for 12 months, but many Conservatives want a change to retry another maneuver against Johnson.
Johnson is embroiled in controversies ranging from the “party door” scandal during Downing Street sanitary restrictions to the erratic financing of refurbishment of official residence through accusations of patronage.
The prime minister lost much of his popularity when the big winner of the December 2019 legislative election won the most significant Conservative majority in decades on the promise of Brexit.
Polls show that most Brits consider him a “liar”.
Johnson will be investigated by a parliamentary committee to determine whether he knowingly misled lawmakers when he dismissed parties violating anti-covid rules in December.
The fact that he said he didn’t know about the charges against Pincher and admitted “forgetfulness”, while many would argue otherwise, reinforces the accusations that the prime minister is playing with the facts.
Recent electoral defeats, such as the two partial legislative elections held on June 23, convinced a growing number of rebels within the Conservative Party that Johnson could no longer lead the party in the general elections scheduled for 2024.
source: Noticias
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