Britain’s two most senior cabinet ministers resigned on Tuesday, a move that could end Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s leadership after months of scandals.
I have spoken to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
It has been an enormous privilege to serve in this role, but I am sorry that I can no longer be in good conscience. pic.twitter.com/d5RBFGPqXp
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) 5 July 2022
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and health secretary Sajid Javid resigned within minutes of each other after a day, forcing the prime minister to admit that the way he had served as a senior member of his government sexual misconduct allegations were handled by him, he had to change his story.
The public rightly expects that the government will operate properly, competently and seriously.
I agree that this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and hence I am resigning.
My letter to the Prime Minister below. pic.twitter.com/vZ1APB1ik1
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) 5 July 2022
“It is with great regret that I wish to inform you that I can no longer continue to serve in this government in good conscience,” Javid said in his resignation letter. “I am naturally a team player but the British people also expect honesty from their government.”
“The public rightly expects the government to operate correctly, competently and seriously,” Sunak said.
“I agree that this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that’s why I am resigning,” he said.
Both Sunak and Javid have been seen as potential leadership contenders within the Conservative Party in the wake of Johnson’s forced ouster. Their departure came as a major blow to the prime minister, as both were in charge of the two biggest issues facing Britain – the cost of living crisis and the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
What happened?
The latest scandal saw Johnson rattled by allegations that he failed to come clean about a lawmaker who was appointed to a senior position despite claims of sexual misconduct.
Johnson faced pressure to explain what he knew about past misconduct allegations against lawmaker Chris Pincher, who served as deputy chief whip on Thursday amid complaints that two men groped at a private club. had resigned.
Minutes before Javid and Sunak’s resignation were announced, Johnson told reporters that Pincher should have been fired from the government after the previous 2019 incident.
Asked whether appointing Pincher to the government was a mistake, Johnson said, “I think it was a mistake and I apologize for it. It was wrong to do it last time.”
“I apologize to all those who have been badly affected by this. I want to make absolutely clear that there is no place in this government for anyone who is a predator or who abuses their position of power,” Johnson said.
The government’s clarification was changed time and again in the last five days. Ministers initially said Johnson was not aware of any allegations when he promoted Pincher to the position in February.
On Monday, a spokesman said Johnson was aware of allegations of sexual misconduct that were “either resolved or did not proceed to a formal complaint.”
The account did not sit well with Simon McDonald, the most senior civil servant in the UK Foreign Office from 2015 to 2020. In a highly unusual move, he said on Tuesday that the Prime Minister’s Office was still not telling the truth.
McDonald said in a letter to the parliamentary commissioner for standards that it received complaints about Pincher’s behavior in the summer of 2019, shortly after Pincher became Foreign Office minister. An investigation upheld the complaint, and Pincher apologized for his actions, McDonald’s said.
McDonald’s disputed that Johnson was unaware of the allegations or dismissed the complaints because they were not resolved or formally addressed.
“The original No. 10 line is not true, and the amendment is still not accurate,” McDonald wrote, referring to the Prime Minister’s Downing Street office. “Mr. Johnson was personally briefed about the initiation and outcome of the investigation.
Hours after McDonald’s remarks surfaced, Johnson’s office changed its story again, saying the prime minister forgot he had been told that Pincher was the subject of an official complaint.
The latest revelations have fueled discontent within Johnson’s cabinet, after ministers were forced to publicly voice the prime minister’s refusals, only for the clarification to move to the next day.
The Times of London published an analysis of the situation on Tuesday under the headline “The lying claim puts Boris Johnson in danger”.
Johnson’s authority was shaken by a no-confidence motion just last month. He survived, but 41% of conservatives voted to remove him from office.
The prime minister’s shifting reactions to months of allegations about lockdown-breaking parties in government offices, including the resulting 126 fines imposed against Johnson, fueled concerns about his leadership.
Two weeks later, Conservative candidates were severely beaten in two special elections to fill vacant seats in parliament, fueling discontent within Johnson’s party.
When Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip last week, a key position in enforcing party discipline, he told the prime minister that he had “drank too much” the previous night and “removed himself and others”. Shame on people.”
Johnson initially refused to suspend Pincher from the Conservative Party, but agreed after a formal complaint was filed with parliamentary officials about allegations of groping.
Critics suggested that Johnson was slow to react because he did not want Pincher to resign from his parliament seat and set the Conservatives up for another potential special electoral defeat.
Even before the Pincher scandal, suggestions were swirling that Johnson might soon face another no-confidence vote.
Over the next few weeks, Conservative MPs will elect new members to the committee that sets parliamentary rules for the party. Several candidates have suggested they support changing the rules to allow another vote of no confidence. Current rules require 12 months between such votes.
Senior Conservative MP Roger Gale, a longtime critic of Johnson, said he would support changes to the rules of the Conservative 1922 committee.
“Mr. Johnson has been sending ministers – in one case a cabinet minister – for three days, effectively lying on his behalf, for indefinite defence. This cannot be allowed to continue,” Galle told the BBC. “This Prime Minister has tarnished the reputation of a proud and respectable party for honesty and decency, and this is not acceptable.