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What lengthy appeared unattainable has lastly occurred. Boris Johnson, underneath rising stress from lawmakers in his personal ranks, has agreed to surrender management of the Conservative Get together and step down as prime minister when his substitute is chosen.
This week, greater than 50 UK parliamentarians resigned, with two prime Cupboard ministers — Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid — quitting inside minutes of one another. The transfer got here in response to a number of scandals and posed an unprecedented problem for Johnson’s premiership.
The chief had shaken off so many scandals prior, it appeared as if he had been impervious to them. One after one other, scandals rocked the UK, however Johnson miraculously maintained his political standing — main British media to name him “Teflon Johnson.”
The entire scandals of Boris Johnson are too many to listing, but he appears to have adopted the identical playbook in his method to every: First, he breached the legislation or tried to bend it in his favor. Then he denied any wrongdoing. When caught he merely doubled down, insisting ignorance till he was pressured to present a grudging apology.
Right here, a handful of his many scandals:
The Pincher affair
Most just lately, Johnson confronted fierce criticism for the best way he dealt with the case towards Chris Pincher, a lawmaker accused of sexual harassment. The 52-year-old MP resigned on June 30, going through allegations of getting groped two male colleagues at a nightclub. Over the next weekend, extra allegations of sexual misconduct had been revealed.
On July 1, Johnson’s workplace stated he had been unaware of Pincher’s file. However this stance modified a number of occasions, with claims that Johnson solely knew of costs that had been, “both resolved or didn’t progress to a proper criticism.”
Johnson lastly apologized on Tuesday, stating that “it was a mistake” to nominate Pincher to the federal government. However the prime minister’s overdue apology did little to calm the disaster that in the end led to his resignation.
Partygate
“Partygate” refers to a scandal over events and occasions held in authorities buildings, and which had been revealed to have violated the UK’s strict COVID-19 lockdown guidelines.
Initially, Johnson denied being conscious of unlawful events. He later stated he sincerely believed on the time that gatherings didn’t break the legislation however accepted that he was mistaken.
The scandal was within the highlight for months, as a lot of its particulars turned recognized to the general public solely step by step.
As an example, it was revealed that one of many events Johnson attended happened on the identical time Queen Elizabeth needed to be seated alone on the funeral of her husband Prince Philip, as a result of a ban on indoor gatherings.
In April 2022, Johnson was fined by the police for breaking lockdown guidelines, changing into the primary British PM to face police sanctions whereas in workplace.
Many thought Boris Johnson would resign after the Partygate scandal exploded — they had been flawed
Refurbishment probe
Johnson’s renovation of his non-public residence got here underneath scrutiny in Could of final yr, each for a way a lot it value and who funded it, resulting in allegations of corruption for his failure to precisely report a donation that paid for it.
In accordance with UK legal guidelines, info on political donations and loans of greater than £7,500 (€10,244 / $10,400) have to be publicly launched 4 occasions a yr. Nonetheless, an official probe discovered {that a} Conservative Get together donor paid greater than £200,000 ($280,000) for the refurbishment of the PM’s official residence. Johnson didn’t report the donations, and because of this, the Conservative Get together was fined £17,800 in December final yr.
Owen Paterson row
In 2021, Johnson tried to stop the suspension of an influential Conservative parliamentarian who was accused of breaching lobbying guidelines.
The British Parliament’s watchdog, often known as the Requirements Committee, discovered that Owen Paterson, a former minister, had obtained cash, together with at the very least two funds of £500,000, from a number of firms to foyer on their behalf.
In response, Johnson proposed main modifications weakening the mechanisms for investigating lawmakers and pushed Conservative MPs to vote for it.
Going through a backlash each from Labour and Conservative MPs, Johnson deserted the proposal. Paterson in the end resigned, and his seat went to the Liberal Democrat Get together in a December election.
At a information convention in November, Boris Johnson stated that defending Owen Paterson was a “whole mistake.”
The UK’s Supreme Court docket discovered that Johnson doubtlessly misled Queen Elizabeth into performing illegally over prorogation
Unlawful prorogation of Parliament
On the top of the Brexit disaster in 2019, Johnson requested Queen Elizabeth II to permit him to shut down Parliament for 5 weeks in a course of often known as prorogation. The transfer got here because the nation was approaching its deadline to depart the European Union, and Johnson discovered himself unable to achieve an settlement with Parliament over how and when to exit the EU.
In the end, the Supreme Court docket of the UK decided that Johnson had acted illegally in looking for approval to close down the federal government, and that he had doubtlessly misled the queen into doing one thing illegal. Johnson was later pressured to personally apologize for having “embarrassed” the monarch in keeping with UK media reviews.
Now, simply three weeks shy of three years on the helm of British politics, it appears the sum of Johnson’s scandals have lastly completed him in. Although he has promised to depart the political stage, Johnson additionally pledged — obligation sure as at all times — to cling on as a lame duck prime minister till an appropriate substitute may be discovered.
Edited by: Jon Shelton
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