The shock result of the referendum — which took the Westminster bubble by surprise — left UK Prime Minister David Cameron terminally damaged, after having passionately fought to keep Britain inside Europe. His position was untenable, his political worth in freefall and on the morning of the result he fell on his sword and announced his resignation.
Former London mayor Boris Johnson — who was accused of only fighting for Brexit in order to garner support from disaffected grassroots Conservatives to help him in a future challenge to Cameron — looked shocked when the result was announced. Nonetheless, he was front-runner to throw his hat in the ring in the race to replace Cameron.
My speech today ahead of close of nominations for the leadership of the Conservative Party:https://t.co/2PMO4gO1k4
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 30 June 2016
He had spent the referendum campaign pounding the streets alongside his presumed close friend and political ally Justice Secretary Michael Gove calling for Britain to extract itself from the EU, dominated by the Brussels machine.
"I don't want to be prime minister… I know I couldn't do the job" — Gove to @KayBurley in 2012 https://t.co/iRnQBrKu3u
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) June 30, 2016
He had always said he would not stand to be leader and prime minister — they all do — and would back Johnson in the race for leadership.
Daggers Drawn
Within hours of the close of nominations, however, Gove picked up the political dagger and — in announcing he would stand for the leadership battle — drove it into the back of Johnson, putting an end to his leadership hopes by splitting support. Many within the party saw this as an act of treachery and Gove became a hated figure among many Conservative MPs.
His bombshell announcement rebounded off the walls of Westminster, as he played Brutus to Johnson's Caesar.
"I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead. I have, therefore, decided to put my name forward for the leadership," he said.
With the leadership race down to three — Home Secretary Theresa May, energy minister Andrea Leadsom and Gove — he was himself stabbed by his own Brexit campaign manager Nick Boles.
Knowing that May had campaigned to remain in the EU and that both Leadsom and Gove had campaigned to leave, Boles thought it wise to encourage May supporters to undermine Leadsom and force her out, leaving a head-to-head with Gove.
Boles sent a text saying: "In the national interest surely we must work together to stop AL [Andrea Leadsom]?"
Unwittingly, he had delivered a fatal blow to his man, Gove, as the text caused a backlash among grassroots Conservatives who were insulted by it — with many still angered by what Gove did to Johnson. In the next round of voting, Gove was cast adrift, all hopes of becoming prime minister vanished into a pool of political blood.
I have apologised to @Gove2016 for the message I sent. He did not know about it let alone authorise it. And it does not reflect his views.
— Nick Boles (@NickBolesMP) 6 July 2016
Fall of Thatcher
The last time a political assassination took place among the Tories was in 1990 when Deputy Prime Minister resigned over Thatcher's refusal to agree negotiations for Britain to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism, ahead of the single currency.
The moment was fatal for Thatcher and she was forced out soon after. Roll on to July 2016 and nobody could have imagined the downfall of such Tory titans as Cameron, Johnson and Gove. Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom need to watch over their shoulders from now on.
