Boris Johnson quits, leaving Conservatives crippled and battered

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally agreed to resign from the leadership of the Conservative party after more than 50 ministers, government officials and party aides quit protesting against his leadership arguing that they had lost confidence in his integrity, honesty and competence.

Boris, as he prefers to be called, intends to remain in post as prime minister until his successor is chosen, which he hopes will be by autumn. The Tory party, however, may have other ideas and is currently debating the timetable for the leadership contest.

Even in his resignation speech to the nation, Boris refused to take responsibility for his actions and blamed his ouster on the ‘herd instinct’ of his ministers and officials. It is this very arrogance and hubris that have made him one of the most obviously unpopular prime ministers Britain has seen. It is also his penchant for lying that has been his undoing.

Despite his government collapsing around him in the last 36 hours, Boris had refused to go and it looked as if the prime minister would have to be thrown out of Downing Street kicking and screaming. Until early this morning it seemed that the man who once said his life’s ambition was to be “world king” was not going to give up power without a fight. It was only when the new Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadim Zahawi who was appointed only two days ago, told Boris that the situation was no longer tenable that he was persuaded to step down.

Also read: Boris Johnson resigns; Nadhim Zahawi leads race for British PM

Wednesday was perhaps the longest day in Boris’ political career when he was confronted with an unprecedented flurry of resignations by Cabinet and junior ministers, a string of loyal Cabinet ministers personally telling him that the game was up and he had lost the support of his party, but Boris, stubborn as ever, did not listen and shamelessly stuck to his chair. On one of the most dramatic days in the country’s political history, a record 40 Conservative Members of Parliament quit their official posts within 24 hours. The resignations continued this (Thursday) morning finally forcing Boris to accept that he has to go.

Domino effect

Ironically, the trigger for the mass rebellion was the resignation on Tuesday night by two of Boris’ most trusted lieutenants Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, both of South Asian origins. The first salvo was fired by the Pakistani-origin health secretary and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid who resigned saying Boris was not fit to govern. Minutes later, Indian-origin Sunak tweeted that he too was stepping down as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the second most powerful position in the Cabinet.

In a withering attack on Boris’ leadership, Javid told a full House of Commons “At some point, we have to conclude that enough is enough. I believe that point is now.” He listed a series of scandals that had embroiled the prime minister and his office in recent months starting with breaking Covid rules during the lockdown. “It’s not fair that ministers have to defend lines that don’t stand up and don’t hold up day after day,” said Javid referring to Boris fielding ministers to defend his actions in the media. So began the domino effect with Boris’ government collapsing around him minute by minute.

Boris has been brought down by his well-crafted personal style and manner of working. Initially, he was seen as a personable, bumbling, bombastic buffoon who got things done. After the referendum on Europe, which left the Government in disarray, he became prime minister, agreed on a withdrawal agreement in a matter of weeks, called an election in 2019 and won the largest majority since Margaret Thatcher in 1980.

The British leader went from being the Tories’ most reliable vote-getter to a scandal-hit figure whose job has been in peril ever since reports of the illicit lockdown parties in Downing Street emerged in November last year. As he became embroiled in scandal after scandal, he was seen as an inveterate liar, and it is the lies which were his undoing. A master of gloss and spin, the problem with Boris has often been that the borderline between spin and outright lies is difficult to discern. Boris has had to apologise to Parliament ‘for misleading the House’ (parliamentary term for lying) more often than any other prime minister in British history.

Next general election

Though Boris survived the dramatic no-confidence vote held by Conservative Party MPs last month, it laid bare how much his popularity has waned in the last year since the ‘Partygate’ scandal erupted. ‘Partygate’ could have been dealt with honestly right from the beginning and he could have explained what had gone wrong in No. 10. Instead the prime minister kept changing his story every time a new detail or damning photograph was leaked. The apologies had to be dragged unwillingly from Boris rather than genuinely meant and hence lacked credibility.

Downing Street kept threatening rebels that deposing a proven vote winner like Boris, would mean that in the next election the Tories would lose and a Labour or an Opposition coalition government would emerge. However many Tories began to see Boris more as a liability than an asset. On 23 June the Tories lost two crucial parliamentary by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton constituencies. Both these seats were won by the Conservatives in the last election and the by-elections were necessitated when the sitting MPs had to resign under the cloud of sex scandals.

Even till this morning, Boris insisted that he had the people’s mandate and it is for the sake of those 14 million people who voted for him in 2019 that he intended to carry on as prime minister. Two-and-half years ago the Conservative party had won with a majority not seen by them since 1987, and Boris never failed in mentioning it including even in his resignation speech. However, opinion polls held in the last week suggested that at least 5 million of those who voted for him in 2019 would not vote for him again, and around 7 million wanted him to resign right away.

The next general election is in 2024 and the new leader will have just about a year and half to undo the damage that Boris has done to the Conservative party if they want to have even a half-decent chance of winning.

(The author has held senior positions in Indian newspapers and now divides her time between Kolkata and London)

(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the articles are of the author and do not reflect the views of The Federal)