Boris Johnson Resigned as Prime Minister of the UK
On July 7, as the dissatisfaction within his government become uncontrollable, Boris Johnson announced his resignation. However, he will maintain his title until the Conservative Party chooses a new Prime Minister.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “the step bookended an extraordinary 36 hours in British politics in which more than 50 ministers and senior government aides resigned, leaving the British government in a state of paralysis.”
BREAKING: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will resign today, several media outlets say https://t.co/WkDzbmTE5k pic.twitter.com/x9F5OZ79Zn
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 7, 2022
This mass resignation of the UK government stems from the Pincher scandal. In this scandal, Johnson appointed a lawmaker with allegations of sexual misconduct to a senior position in his government. His political integrity was once again challenged. In the resignation letter, Health Secretary Javid wrote, “I am instinctively a team player but the British people also rightly expect integrity from their government.”
UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson resigns amid the highest number of ministerial resignation from his cabinet on the Chris Pincher scandal.
— DATANOMICS (@Datanomics_) July 7, 2022
The Chris Pincher scandal is a political controversy in the UK relating to sexual misconduct that implicates CP for behaving inappropriately pic.twitter.com/jY1RyMhpHs
Before this grave scandal led to his resignation, a myriad of scandals appeared during Johnson‘s tenure. Among them, the ‘partygate‘ scandal was the most prevalent. During the COVID-lockdown period, in Prime Minister’s residence, No.10 Downing Street, a series of parties were hosted. According to CNN, “Johnson’s handling of the scandal was particularly misguided, with Downing Street first denying there were any gatherings, then saying he didn’t know about them and then claiming he attended them because he believed they were work events.”
Such behaviors triggered anger and dissatisfaction across the UK. Meanwhile, many members of Johnson’s Conservative Party worried that ‘partygate’ would turn voters against them. In turn, Johnson faced a no-confidence vote within the Conservative Party at that time. Though 41% of Conservatives voted to remove him, Johnson’s career survived the scandal.
🧵Good morning Asia! 🌦️☕️
— Kelvin Wong, CFTe (@KelvinSCWong) June 7, 2022
Key news/events/econ data;
1. UK PM Boris Johnson has managed to survive a “no confidence” vote by rebels in his own Conservative party. Public PR damage has been deal on Boris.
However, the Pincher scandal was the final straw that broke Johnson’s political integrity. UK Senior ministers resigned and thus urged him to quit. Although Johnson had been fighting for the past week, he was finally forced to relinquish his power to maintain a functional government. On July 7, Boris Johnson finally announced his resignation. Check out the video of Boris Johnson’s Rise and Fall below.
Journalist | Instagram @immeradrian
