I’m committed to doing as much research into British politics as the British tabloids do when writing about American politics. Therefore, I assume the Benny Hill theme song is playing at 10 Downing Street as Boris Johnson runs around, being chased by Larry the Cat, various Tory kingmakers and Rupert Murdoch. That’s British politics in a nutshell, right? Anyway, as previewed, the Johnson government has had a terrible reign, especially in recent months. The past week has seen a wave of Tory cabinet and sub-cabinet resignations, to the point where the Johnson government would simply be unable to do anything because there was no one IN the Johnson government but Boris and Larry (actually, Larry belongs to 10 Downing Street and has no political affiliation, and Larry will oversee the transfer of power). So, it’s actually happening – Boris Johnson is resigning. In October.
Boris Johnson is to stand down as Conservative Party leader after losing the support of his ministers and MPs. A Conservative leadership contest will take place this summer and a new prime minister will be in place in time for the party conference in October. In the meantime, Mr Johnson will continue as prime minister.
He had vowed to “keep going” following a wave of resignations from the government over his leadership but has now decided to step down. Senior members of his cabinet, including chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, urged him to resign and “leave with dignity”.
Mr Johnson is expected to give a resignation statement outside No 10 Downing Street later.
Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019 after winning a Tory leadership contest, and went on to win an historic landslide general election victory five months after that. He won the election vowing to “get Brexit done” but his government has been dogged by a series of controversies in recent months, not least a police investigation into parties in Downing Street during lockdown. The revolt this week was triggered by revelations about the prime minister’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against former Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher.
BBC political editor Chris Mason said Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, has met the prime minister to tell him he has lost the confidence of the party.
Before BoJo’s resignation, he sacked Michael Gove late yesterday evening. Gove’s sacking was the 55th high-profile firing or resignation from the Johnson government just in the past two weeks. Incredible.
Boris Johnson is resigning. He leaves Britain in a dangerous state: the time when everything was possible is over https://t.co/brOwVBKw3s pic.twitter.com/tPd98Inbhu
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) July 7, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, talk at The Sun’s Who Cares Wins Health Awards at The Roundhouse, London, on 14th September 2021.,Image: 632273862, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: ARTHUR EDWARDS / Avalon
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- Hassanal Bolkiah – Sultan Of Brunei arrives for a meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Downing Street, London, England, UK on Friday 3 December, 2021.,Image: 646201233, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab visiting HMP ISIS, Greenwich, ahead of the publication of the Prisons White Paper today. The prison is situated within the walls of HM Prison Belmarsh. Meeting prison warders.,Image: 646813163, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Geoff Pugh / Avalon
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- 03/02/2022. Middleton, United Kingdom. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson, visits Hopwood Hall College to mark the launch of the Levelling Up White Paper,Image: 659063494, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: This image is for Editorial use purposes only. The Image can not be used for advertising or commercial use. The Image can not be altered in any form., Model Release: no, Credit line: Andrew Parsons / Avalon
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- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Symonds arrive for a service of thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Friday, June 3, 2022 on the second of four days of celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee. The events over a long holiday weekend in the U.K. are meant to celebrate the monarch’s 70 years of service.,Image: 696626880, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Matt Dunham / Avalon
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- Boris and Carrie Johnson attend, St Pauls Cathedral for the National Service of Thanksgiving to Celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen .,Image: 696627077, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ian Vogler / Avalon
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- 03/06/2022. London, United Kingdom. Service of thanksgiving for the Queen. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie join members of the Royal Family at St Paul’s Cathedral for the Platinum Jubilee Service of thanksgiving for the Queen.,Image: 696688805, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: This image is for Editorial use purposes only. The Image can not be used for advertising or commercial use. The Image can not be altered in any form., Model Release: no, Credit line: Andrew Parsons / Avalon
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- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson departs for Parliament – Downing Street, London, England, UK on Tuesday 5 July, 2022.,Image: 705194199, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Downing Street, London, UK. 6th July 2022. British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, departs from Number 10 Downing Street to attend weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQ) session in the House of Commons following the double resignation of Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak yesterday and several others today.,Image: 705460399, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Supplied by AVALON – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photo by Amanda Rose / Avalon
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- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson departs for PMQs – Downing Street, London, England, UK on Wednesday 6 July, 2022.,Image: 705460463, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- London, UK, 06th July, 2022. Boris Johnson, MP, British Prime Minister, exits 10 Downing Street for PMQs at Parliament today. He has been put under pressure following several high profile resignations.,Image: 705461791, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Imageplotter / Avalon
About bloody time. But he needs to go NOW, before he drags my country further into the muck and mire, and before more children starve and Covid sufferers die due to his unhinged libertarian, narcissistic policies.
Whoever runs the Larry the Cat account on Twitter is not a fan off Boris Johnson. The account has been both brutal and hilarious over the last few days.
https://twitter.com/number10cat/status/1545001330183479300?s=21
Awesome
There’s a clip on twitter of Larry approaching the front door this morning and a journalist shouting ‘Have you asked him to resign yet Larry’. You can hear laughing in the background.
Just checked out Larry’s feed. OMG that is HYSTERICAL!!! Love it! 😄
You can’t bullshit a cat. Cats always know what’s up. Every cat, everywhere, every time.
At this point I have more trust/confidence in Larry than pretty much any of the tories.
From Larry the Cat’s Twitter feed:
“If Boris Johnson hasn’t resigned by 10am I will be forced to crap in his shoes.” #DowningStreetSiege
Hurrah but he can and will do more damage while serving as an ‘interim’ PM – the new cabinet announcements I think are part of a plan to shore up support as I do think he will go back on his word. He has previous for that – I do NOT trust him one bit.
He needs to go now, if he doesn’t he will burn it all to the ground.
This. If the Tories allow him to stay until October he’ll find a way not to leave.
I would bet everything I own that he is already making those plans.
Yep, thats what I think as well. I hope the Keir calls a no confidence vote next week and gets him out. I listened to his leaving speech and I heard no sorry, he just blamed the herd. He’s going to trying and stay on. Glad he is showing what he really is.
That’s great, but it seems to me he played the game really well and he’s leaving just when he has to show he is capable in any way. I mean.. Ukraine, Russia, gas, NATO. He went through covid with parties in lockdown, and he’s leaving when there is a war hanging in the air.
Yes, agree, right now is a terrible time.
I think Boris is down but not out unfortunately. He may be back someday like Churchill.
Oh Kaiser, 10 Downing Street belongs to Larry the cat not the other way round! Larry graciously allows the Prime Minister to live there.
It’s so strange to see a political party (particularly a right wing party!) that’s willing to hold their own people accountable for incompetence, lies, and general assholery. I don’t want to give the Tories too much credit, because they’re still a bunch of bastards whose reasons for pushing Bojo out are likely entirely self-serving (they don’t want his stink to rub off on themselves, I assume). But that’s how low the bar is for liberal/progressive Americans at this point. We look at the bare minimum of integrity and think, “…yeah, I’d take that”.
They’re pushing him out at the behest of their right wing tabloid editor overlords who believe that he has tracked too left on some issues and that his own scandals are weighing down the Tories in elections. They lost two “by elections” of safe Tory seats in June. Just a week ago the same MPs lined up to give him a confidence vote. So, unfortunately, don’t get too excited. They want someone in there who will only make britons suffer more.
Don’t be fooled, it isn’t integrity, it’s simply that Boris has become an electoral liability. The Tories recently lost two by-elections in safe seats and his poll ratings are brutal.. They just use Boris’ misconduct as an excuse because it makes them look principled. Bear in mind several of the key figures want to replace Boris as PM.
Absolutely this between the recent by-elections and recent council elections, Boris had started to negatively impact the Tories electability. That has everything to do with the push. They knew exactly who and what he was when they put him into power. Until now they have been sitting on those knives even though they knew where the bodies have been buried for ages.
Glad he is gone!
The Tories only care about staying in Government. When it looked like Johnson was a major liability to that aim, that’s when they drew their knives, and it was swift. They are supremely focused when it comes to staying in power.
Integrity? The Tories?
The last Tory with a modicum of integrity was probably Churchill. And even he was a mixed bag pre and post-WWII.
They are (finally) holding BoJo responsible, because they’ve been left with no other choice. If they want to retain power, he must go.
It isn’t integrity, it’s because it’s starting to hurt them. Two lost by-elections (including one seat that’s been held by the tories since it was created in the 90’s and had a big majority) and yet another sex scandal on top of everything else. What you see are rats leaving the sinking ship and with the savvy to try and look like they’re on the right side of history.
Yep! It seems impressive compared to what our conservatives are endorsing.
Lol! No way does he stay until October. This is about him still trying to control what is happening. He is Trump through and through. If the Tory’s don’t get rid of him, Labour will call another confidence vote.
Just yesterday, he admitted to meeting with a former KGB agent right after a NATO meeting. He had no security with him and never logged the meeting. So he had a secret meeting with a close confidant of Putin immediately after a NATO meeting (and the poisoning of Sergei Skripal on UK soil).
All Tories in England and Rethuglicans in the US want is a competent Trump. And it’s terrhorrifying.
I just watched his speech. What an arrogant tool, to the last. I thought, “Dudley Dursley, all grown up!”
And that was him at his most humble and amiable. Imagine what he is like normally…
They broke some kind of record multiple times in the last day with how many people resigned. Every time another one did, they got a new one.
Also, vote vote vote whenever you have a chance.
Funny that, with all those shenanigans, the words “scandal” “scandal-plagued” and an exclamation point do not appear in the column above.
Wasn’t this clown the one with the bullhorn telling May to resign because of no deal with Brexit and how he can get it done?
Karma ain’t always on time, but they always know your address.
Somewhere Dominic Cummings is chuckling while drinking his tea.
Dominic Cummings is all over twitter at the moment say that he also pissed off to party with ex spy when prime minister when we were deciding whether to go into lockdown. If that is true I wonder how the Ukrainian people feel about him now. I hope they never shared any security details with him.
This is the real power of the UK and it’s Game of Thrones. Watch your back Windsors this could be you.
So true – British politics throughout history could easily give the Roman senate a run for their money with this sh!t. And he did base the main plots on our history – if the royals weren’t killing each other, the politicians were.
Oh and don’t fk with the aristo’s – they know where all the bodies are.
But will he and Carrie have to remove the gold wallpaper? Will it take til October to have it taken down?
Funny how nothing at all seemed to stick, not the cheating, covid parties, stealing $-but not following through on a rogue PM who assaulted people and then lying about it. Just crazy.
Officially MPs were getting pissed that they were going out to defend him and didn’t realise it was them being lied to. Being made to look like an idiot is not a fun look on national television and then shared with millions on the internet. This time an ex civil servant came out after two versions came out and said ” Boris was told about this, including that an internal investigation found out that sexual assort did occur”. So the idiots at no. 10 got caught out again. Remember these are the same people that partied whilst the rest of the country were trying to stop covid from killing lots of people. They believed they had the right to get pissed and party because they were working hard. This is whilst doctors and nurses either lived away from their familys or tried to not pass on the virus, working really long shifts, risking their lives to save others. It makes me just sick. I’m sure we are going to get more revelations.
I read some speculation that he wants to hang on at least until the end of the July because his belated wedding reception is being held this month at the country estate (called Chequers) reserved for the Prime Minister’s use.
Yes and he wants to have been PM longer than Theresa May. He needs another month or so for that.
Carrie’s already planning a Katie Holmes stealth bounce.
And *that’s* why the original House of Cards was based on the Tory party! 🙂
Well that and Shakespeare. 🙂