Global Courant
London, United Kingdom –
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson left chaos in his wake on Saturday after leaving parliament with an outburst from fellow lawmakers he accused of ousting him in a “witch hunt”.
With detractors scoffing, the Conservative government absorbed the shock of yet another Johnson earthquake, while a group of loyal supporters insisted Britain’s divisive ex-leader could still make a comeback. Two of Johnson’s allies joined him in leaving the House of Commons, adding pressure to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Less than a year after being forced out as prime minister by his own Conservative Party, Johnson unexpectedly resigned as a legislator late Friday – “at least for now,” he said in a self-justified resignation statement.
Johnson resigned after being told he will face sanctions for misleading Parliament over ‘partygate’, a series of rule-breaking gatherings in the prime minister’s office amid the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson was one of dozens of people fined by police for late-night soirees, booze parties and “wine-time Fridays” that violated government restrictions on the country.
Johnson has admitted to misleading Parliament when he assured lawmakers no rules had been broken, but said he did not do so intentionally, in the genuine belief that the meetings were legitimate work events.
A standards committee investigating him seems to think otherwise. Johnson quit after receiving the Privileges Committee report, which has not yet been made public. Johnson risked suspension from the House of Commons if the committee found he had deliberately lied.
Johnson, 58, called the committee “a kangaroo court” determined to “drive me out of parliament”.
“From the start, their goal was to find me guilty, regardless of the facts,” Johnson said.
The committee, which is mostly Conservative, said Johnson’s attack had “challenged the integrity of the House of Commons”. It said it would meet Monday “to finalize the investigation and publish the report as soon as possible”.
The resignation will trigger a special election to replace Johnson as legislator for a suburban seat in the London House of Commons. Two of Johnson’s allies, Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams, also dropped out, leading to three near-simultaneous midterm elections – an unwanted headache for Sunak.
Johnson is a charismatic and whimsical figure whose career has seen a series of scandals and comebacks. The crumpled populist with Latin American lips and a shock of blonde hair has held important offices, but also spent periods on the political sidelines before Britain’s exit from the European Union propelled him to the top.
As champion of Brexit, Johnson led the Conservatives to a landslide victory in 2019 and took Britain out of the EU the following year. But he was caught up in scandals over his ethics and judgment, and was forced out of office as prime minister by his own party in mid-2022.
By leaving parliament, he avoids an adjournment that could have seen him ousted from his seat in the House of Commons by his constituents, which could allow him to be free again to stand for parliament in the future. His resignation statement suggested he was considering that option. It was highly critical of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who served as head of finance in Johnson’s government before abandoning ship with many other colleagues in July 2022 – resignation that forced Johnson to become prime minister.
Conservative opinion polls fell during the turbulent final months of Johnson’s term and have not recovered. Opinion polls regularly give the opposition Labor Party a lead of 20 points or more. National elections are to be held at the end of 2024.
“Just a few years after winning the largest majority in nearly half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk,” Johnson said in a statement that sounded like a leadership pitch. “Our party urgently needs to regain its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do.”
Johnson allies expressed hope that the former prime minister was not done yet. Conservative MP John Redwood said Johnson “has made it very clear that he does not see this as the end of his involvement in British politics.”
But many others wondered if a politician who often seemed to defy political gravity could make a comeback.
Others compared Johnson to Donald Trump, who has similarly claimed persecution from a host of enemies after being indicted on federal charges of hoarding classified documents after leaving office.
“It all feels very Trumpian,” says Will Walden, who worked for Johnson when he was mayor of London and British foreign secretary.
“He’s got one song to play, and that’s ‘I’ve been robbed,'” Walden told Sky News.
Tim Bale, a political science professor at Queen Mary University of London, said Johnson was often inspired by his political hero, Winston Churchill, who led Britain to victory in World War II, only to be removed from power in 1945 and then return to England. office several years later.
“I believe he thinks he can spend some time in the wilderness before the Conservative Party and the country call on him again in times of need,” Bale said.
“Honestly, I think that’s unlikely. I think Partygate has made him toxic to a lot of voters. And I think the way he’s been behaving over the last two or three days — and some people will over the last two or three years – probably means most of his colleagues would prefer him to disappear in a puff of smoke.”
