Boris Johnson was forced to scramble to shore up his Cabinet after two of his most senior ministers – Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak - resigned within 10 minutes of each other on Tuesday evening, claiming they could no longer support the Prime Minister.
The resignations of the Health Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer came minutes after the Prime Minister gave an interview admitting he should not have appointed disgraced Tory MP Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip in February having known about his predatory sexual behavior. No 10 initially claimed that Johnson knew nothing of the Tamworth MP's reputation after Pincher was accused of groping two men at a private members' club last week, prompting a slew of revelations about his previous conduct.
Last night's political double body blow for the PM, and the consequent stream of resignations from junior ministers - Alex Chalk quit as solicitor-general - prompted more rebel Tories to insist it was time for Johnson to go.
However, despite the threat of a backbench mutiny, Johnson battled to reset his premiership, appointing Nadhim Zahawi as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Steve Barclay as Health Secretary, with Michelle Donelan replacing Zahawi as Education Secretary.
Just moments after the resignations were announced, Johnson reportedly made it clear to a group of around 80 Tory MPs in a pre-arranged meeting that he had every intention of carrying on. The beleaguered Prime Minister was quoted by an aide as saying “F*** that” to the notion of resigning, according to The Times.
Who ‘Jumped Ship’ & Who Stayed
First Javid, the Health Secretary, and then Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, published letters on their Twitter accounts declaring that they could no longer carry on with Johnson as PM.
In his letter to Johnson, Javid said he could "no longer, in good conscience, continue serving in this government".
"The tone you set as a leader, and the values you represent, reflect on your colleagues, your party and ultimately the country," Javid wrote.
Sunak said:
"The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I recognize this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning."
Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, Andrew Bridgen - who has publicly called for Johnson to go over “partygate” - was cited by Sky News as saying that the two Johnson allies had been prompted to go because ministers had been briefed to tell the media on Tuesday morning that the PM did not know about a previous sexual misconduct allegation against Pincher.
"I and a lot of the party are determined [Johnson] should be gone by the summer recess [21 July 2022]," Bridgen said.
Javid's and Sunak's resignation was quickly followed by Dr Andrew Murrison, MP for South West Wiltshire, resigning as the PM's trade envoy to Morocco; Bim Afolami, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden quit as vice-chairman of the Conservative Party; Theo Clarke, MP for Stafford, stepped down as Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Kenya; and ministerial aides Jonathan Gullis, MP for Stoke on Trent, Saqib Bhatti, MP for Meriden, Nicola Richards, MP for West Bromwich East, and Virginia Crosbie, Ynys Mon, also threw in the towel.
However, a majority of cabinet ministers were cited by Sky News as intending to stay on, including: Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, Housing Secretary Michael Gove, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Attorney-General Suella Braverman, International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey, Scotland Secretary Alister Jack, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis and Wales Secretary Simon Hart.
New Scandal Rocks No 10
No 10 found itself in crisis mode over its handling of the fall-out from the latest sexual misconduct scandal involving former Tory deputy chief whip Christopher Pincher. The suspended Tory MP quit as deputy chief whip on 1 July over claims he groped two men at the Carlton Club - a Conservative Party private members’ club in St James's Street in London - on 30 June.
In his resignation letter, Pincher confessed he "drank far too much" and "embarrassed [himself] and other people", but stopped short of mentioning the inappropriate behavior claims.
Pincher previously quit office once in 2017 after being accused of making a pass at ex-Olympic rower and Tory activist Alex Story. At the time, the Tory MP was cleared of wrongdoing by a party investigation.
However, it was a spate of contorted attempts by Downing Street to insist that the Prime Minister had been unaware of “specific allegations being looked at” concerning Pincher before he appointed him to the post of deputy chief whip in February this year that caused the present scandal to erupt.
Crossbench peer, Simon, Lord McDonald of Salford, penned a letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, decrying the tendency of No 10 to “keep changing their story and are still not telling the truth”.
According to McDonald, the PM was told “in person” about a “formal complaint” concerning Pincher by a “group of officials” at the Foreign Office in the summer of 2019.
“The original No 10 line is not true and the modification is still not accurate. Mr Johnson was briefed in person about the initiation and outcome of the investigation. There was a 'formal complaint'. Allegations were 'resolved' only in the sense that the investigation was completed; Mr Pincher was not exonerated. To characterize the allegations as 'unsubstantiated' is therefore wrong,” McDonald wrote in the letter.
'Government Collapsing'
After the wave of shock resignations, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said "it's clear that this government is now collapsing". He accused Johnson of having "disgraced his office and let down his country".
"After all the sleaze, the scandals and the failure, it's clear that this government is now collapsing. Tory cabinet ministers have known all along who this prime minister is," the Labour leader said.
As Johnson faces a grilling at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, as well as an appearance in front of the liaison committee of senior backbenchers, he is facing a mutiny by rebels who have gained fresh ammunition against him.
There have already been reports of a plot among Tory rebel MPs to change the rules of the Conservative Party to force a new vote of no confidence in Johnson.
The PM narrowly won a contest on his leadership last month over “partygate”, which granted him 12 months' immunity from another leadership challenge.
However, the rebels are said to want to try to secure key posts on the the 1922 Committee - the backbench committee which is in charge of leadership contests. A majority on the committee's 18-strong executive could allow them to change the rules so Johnson would face another confidence vote.
But election to the 1922 executive are due to be held next week, after which MPs set off on a summer break. Accordingly, Johnson could be spared another contest until September.
Meanwhile, a snap YouGov poll of more than 3,000 people found seven in 10 Britons think Johnson should resign.