Boris Johnson, a mandate punctuated by scandals

Confessions and apologies have become Boris Johnson’s daily life. But, unlike his ministers, he refuses to give up the place he has occupied since July 2019. Between July 5 and 6, six members of his government chose to throw in the towel, tired of the accumulation of scandals.

The reason for these cascading resignations is this time called Chris Pincher, deputy “whip” (in charge of parliamentary discipline for Conservative MPs). The 52-year-old elected official left his post the previous week after being accused of touching two men on June 29, during a party in a private London club.

Disappointment among ministers and voters

The belated apologies presented by Boris Johnson were not enough to calm the resentment aroused among some members of his government. The Prime Minister had also started by denying having had knowledge of the facts… before acknowledging the opposite. As a result, Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, his health and finance ministers, submitted their resignation letters a few minutes apart on Tuesday July 5.

Two British ministers resign, tired of Boris Johnson’s government scandals

The following day, it was Will Quince (Secretary of State for Children and Families), Robin Walker (Secretary of State for Schools) and Laura Trott (Assistant to the Secretary of State) who dissociated themselves from the conservative government. The latest to leave is John Glen, Secretary of State for Finance, who justified his departure with a “complete lack of confidence” towards Boris Johnson.

In reality, this case will above all have served as a trigger for the departure of ministers. The previous months were already marked by several scandals, having weakened the confidence that British voters could place in “Bojo”. According to a survey by the YouGov institute published on Tuesday July 5, 69% of them think that the Prime Minister should resign. A sentiment shared by 54% of Conservative voters.

The “partygate”, cornerstone of criticism

Public opinion was particularly stirred by the revelations about the organization of a fortnight of parties in Downing Street between May 2020 and April 2021. Despite the health restrictions imposed on the population, Boris Johnson admitted to having participated in one of these gatherings, in May 2020, during which around forty people were present.

The Prime Minister tried to explain that he thought he was attending a professional event, but his remarks were ultimately denied by his special adviser Dominic Cummings. In November 2020, Boris Johnson and his wife would have rightly celebrated the forced departure of the adviser, in their private apartments.

Another party particularly shocked voters, organized by Boris Johnson’s teams on April 16, 2021, until the middle of the night. A date far from trivial since the next day, the queen came out dressed in black to meditate in front of the coffin of her husband, prince Philip, who died the previous week. After the outcry, Boris Johnson, who was not present that evening, was forced to apologize to Buckingham Palace.

At the end of the investigation conducted as part of this “partygate”, the Prime Minister was fined and barely survived the vote of no confidence organized by his own camp.

Several cases of a sexual nature

His detractors do not hesitate either to recall the setbacks encountered by several members of his party. In mid-May, an anonymized MP was arrested on suspicion of rape before being released on bail. A second elected official resigned in April, after being caught watching pornographic content on his phone, in one of the Houses of Parliament.

Earlier, in May, an ex-MP was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy. The setbacks of these elected officials led to partial legislative elections, lost by the conservatives. The election results then led to the departure of the party president, further reinforcing the conservatives’ crisis of confidence in “Bojo”.