Beset by a series of scandals, UK Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson will resign.
Boris Johnson is to resign as UK prime minister after he was hit by an unprecedented wave of resignations from his government.
Months of unremitting political turbulence spiked on Tuesday when his health secretary and chancellor quit within 10 minutes of each other over the PM’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a senior MP.
This triggered a trickle of resignations and letters of no confidence from junior ministers and MPs that on Wednesday became a flood. That evening, a group of senior ministers went to Downing Street to try to persuade the PM to resign.
Mr Johnson initially remained defiant and on Wednesday evening said he had no intention of resigning given his “colossal mandate” from voters at the 2019 election. Cabinet ally Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the campaign against him as a “squall”.
But by Thursday morning more than 50 members of the government had quit, including Education Secretary Michelle Donelan who had only been appointed on Tuesday night. and Mr Johnson was forced to bow to the inevitable.
On the one hand, the things Johnson is resigning for (sex scandals by underlings and breaking Flu Manchu restrictions) would never have brought down a major Democratic political figure on this side of the pond. On the other hand, beyond Brexit, one searches high and low in vain for a single conservative policy initiative that Johnson has pushed through. For all his press as a “Trump-like” figure, Johnson has none of Trump’s notable accomplishments in economics or foreign policy. Johnson seems no more successful a leader than the woman he replaced at Number 10 Downing Street, Theresa May.
In the end, all Boris Johnson seemed to believe in was Boris Johnson. It wasn’t nearly enough.
Tags: Boris Johnson, Brexit, Conservatives, UK
Johnson has been a disappointment, so I’m not sorry to see him go (not that it has any effect on me here in Texas). I do wonder who will replace him, and whether the new PM will be any better.
Upon his resignation, some wag referred to him “Boris Goneson” which I loved.
I wouldn’t criticize his lack of accomplishments too much. Preventing the damage the other side would do is a fine list of accomplishments all of its own.
And no matter what you imagine, reality would have been worse for the UK over the past few years had the other party been in charge.
It’s like Abbot, Cruz, Crenshaw, Paxton, etc. Sometimes good, sometimes RINO, but the alternative is someone like Wendy R. Davis or Beto T. Furry.
Boris Johnson ended up as a huge disappointment. Unlike Trump, he did nothing to limit the growth of leftist programs put in place by previous Labour administrations, and the Tory’s themselves have drifted so far left that current Tory’s appear to be no different than Tony Blair’s “New Labour” party.
Unchecked immigration, continuing kowtowing to the EU, and coddling of muslim grooming gangs remain an issue to this day.
I fear that Britain itself is doomed.
If Boris Johnson were an American politician, he’d be a never-Trump RINO.
The problem with both the US and the UK is that the supposed “conservative” political parties have long been captured by the left; they’re not actually what they claim they are, effective opposition to the programs and policies of the left.
As such, they’re political Trojan Horses, window-dressing meant to calm the public as the left grows ever bolder and more disturbing with its madness.