London Johnson held on to his post for a long time, now he is on the verge of extinction. Follow his statement on the live stream.
Chaotic conditions prevail in London: Johnson no longer has a majority in his own parliamentary group. Well over 40 members of his government have resigned since Tuesday evening. Half of the cabinet is urging Johnson to resign, including the new Treasury Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, whom Johnson has just promoted to office.
With numerous half-truths and untruths, Johnson had repeatedly saved his head in the past few months. On Wednesday he had to face a one-hour question time in the House of Commons. “Bye-bye Boris,” cried opposition MPs and probably some members of the conservative government faction to the ailing prime minister.
>> Read also: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to resign
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Johnson was still glued to his chair. An overview of how things could continue in London in the coming days:
Who could succeed Johnson as Prime Minister?
The fact that no one in the Tories has dared to openly challenge Johnson is one reason why the now unpopular prime minister is still in office. On Wednesday evening, Attorney General Suella Braverman was the first to announce her candidacy to succeed Johnson.
The former British health minister could become his successor if Johnson resigns.
(Photo: dpa)
Former Health Minister Sajid Javid and ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak are also said to have ambitions for the seat of government at 10 Downing Street. The same applies to Secretary of State Liz Truss and the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Zahawi. However, Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt, who currently serves as Secretary of State for International Trade, is currently leading the English bookmakers.
Who will rule Britain if Johnson resigns?
Should Johnson give up, Vice Prime Minister Dominic Raab would probably continue to run government business for a transitional period. The Tories would then have to determine their new party leader and thus the new prime minister in an internal party election process.
Several ministers are calling on Boris Johnson to resign
It would take a few weeks for the new party and government leadership to be filled. It is also considered likely that a new prime minister could call new elections in the foreseeable future to have his mandate confirmed by British voters.
Why hasn’t Boris Johnson resigned so far?
The prime minister repeatedly cited his Conservative party’s landslide victory in the 2019 election, which gave the Tories an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons. He has a “colossal” mandate, Johnson said.
In reality, however, the prime minister in Britain is not directly elected by the people. The country is a representative democracy that awards direct mandates through a first-past-the-post system, thereby determining the strength of the parties in parliament. The strongest party then elects the head of government from among its members. Johnson is thus breaking the parliamentary conventions of British democracy.
What is the background of the crisis?
Johnson was already politically hit by the “Partygate” affair after receiving a ticket for attending a birthday party during the corona lockdown.
However, the current government crisis was sparked by his handling of Christopher Pincher, who was expelled from the party for sexual assault. Johnson promoted Pincher to deputy faction leader in February, even though he was aware of his propensity for sexual assault at the time.
At first, the prime minister denied having known anything at all about the specific allegations. He was later forced to admit the opposite, but claimed he had forgotten. In the Partygate scandal, Johnson had also assured parliament that there had been no celebrations in the government district during the lockdown. A committee of inquiry is now examining whether the prime minister knowingly lied to parliament.
More: One lie too many – Boris Johnson is about to end his political career