Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, two senior members of the UK Cabinet, resigned on Tuesday, piling more pressure on embattled Prime Minster Boris Johnson to step down.
Both men had been appointed by Mr Johnson to powerful posts after he took power in 2019. After a period on the backbenches, Mr Javid was brought back as health secretary but on Tuesday led the walkout from Mr Johnson's government.
"I have spoken to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care," Mr Javid announced. "It has been an enormous privilege to serve in this role, but I regret that I can no longer continue in good conscience."
Mr Sunak said he was resigning as chancellor, writing that he recognised his decision was a high-stakes gambit.
“I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning,” he said.
The finance minister told Mr Johnson the public deserved the truth about where the country was headed, and said “our approaches are fundamentally too different”.
“The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously," he said. “On those occasions where I disagreed with you privately, I have supported you publicly.
“In preparation for our proposed joint speech on the economy next week, it has become clear to me that our approaches are fundamentally too different.
“I am sad to be leaving government but I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we cannot continue like this.”
Boris Johnson has responded to Rishi Sunak’s departure as chancellor, saying he was “sorry” to have received Mr Sunak’s resignation letter and praising his “outstanding service”.
In a letter, the Prime Minister wrote: “Dear Rishi, I was sorry to receive your letter resigning from the Government.
“You have provided outstanding service to the country through the most challenging period for our economy in peacetime history”.
Johnson loyalist
He noted the furlough scheme, Mr Sunak’s work on post-pandemic economic recovery and to repair public finances, as well as tax cuts.
Close ally of Mr Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested that the differences with Mr Sunak contributed to the breach even as dissent in the ruling Conservative Party grows over Mr Johnson's many scandals.
"Actually, you need a prime minister and a chancellor with the same vision for the country. That's very important, it's very beneficial. And I think there were signs for some time that the relationship wasn't really working," he said.
"I saw the prime minister this evening and he is in a businesslike mood. It's the prime minister who has a mandate from the British people and then he appoints a Cabinet — some people don't want to serve in it any more but they are eminently replaceable."
The resignations of Mr Javid — a former leadership contender — and Mr Sunak, viewed as a potential successor to the prime minister, mean Mr Johnson’s position is now perilous.
His authority had already been damaged by a confidence vote in which 41 per cent of his MPs voted against him on June 6.
The loss of crunch by-elections in Tiverton and Honiton, and Wakefield in June triggered the resignation of Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden.
Mr Javid said many politicians as well as the public had lost confidence in Mr Johnson's ability to govern in the national interest.
"I regret to say, however, that it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership — and you have therefore lost my confidence too," Mr Javid said in a letter to Johnson.
"We [the Conservative Party] may not have always been popular, but we have been competent in acting in the national interest. Sadly, in the current circumstances, the public are concluding that we are now neither.
In response to the resignations, Mr Johnson appointed chief of staff Steve Barclay as the new health secretary.
Nadhim Zahawi was promoted to be the new Chancellor, with universities minister Michelle Donelan taking his place as Education Secretary.
Cabinet ministers including Dominic Raab, Liz Truss, Michael Gove, Therese Coffey and Ben Wallace indicated they would be staying in the Government.
However, Bim Afolami quit as Tory vice-chair live on TV, Andrew Murrison resigned as a trade envoy to Morocco and ministerial aides Jonathan Gullis and Saqib Bhatti left their roles.
Sir Bob Neill, a Conservative MP who rebelled against Mr Johnson, said the opposition would build and cost the prime minister his job.
"Unfortunately, the prime minister has run out of road because he has lost credibility, and once you lose credibility that erodes trust and that cannot be replaced, and that is a matter of character not policy," he said.
Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer had earlier on Tuesday called on members of the Cabinet to resign in response to Mr Johnson’s handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.
Mr Starmer said those remain in the Cabinet would be “nodding dogs” if they did not quit. He was speaking to journalists shortly before news of Mr Sunak’s resignation broke.
“Should his Cabinet members make sure he leaves office? Yes they should. It’s their responsibility, in the national interest, to remove him from office," he said.
Rebels in the Conservative Party had been calling on senior ministers to take matters into their own hands after narrowly failing to oust Mr Johnson in a confidence vote just last month. That, in theory, had left him safe from a leadership challenge for 12 months.
Sir Roger Gale, another MP who has sought to bring down Mr Johnson, said a forthcoming reshuffle at the top of the backbench 1922 Committee should a proxy battle on the leadership.
“If the prime minister still refuses to go without the confidence of the back bench of his party, without the confidence, clearly, of significant members of his Cabinet, if that is not enough to persuade him that the time has come for him to step aside, then the 1922 Committee, the back bench, is going to have to do it for him,” he said.
More Cabinet ministers will resign and will be shown the door, according to Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen. “I guess they (Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid) finally got where much of the party got weeks if not months ago, that we just can’t carry on like this," he said. "What a shambles. It has been a shambles.”
Boris Johnson faces mounting pressure – in pictures
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has succumbed to a rebellion in his ruling Conservative Party and said he would stand down as leader. Reuters -
Several crises, including sleaze allegations against a Conservative MP, had increased the pressure on Mr Johnson. Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street -
Rishi Sunak, centre, resigned as UK chancellor while Sajid Javid, left, quit as health secretary, both in protest at the leadership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Photo: Getty -
A new Conservative leader will be selected before a party conference is held in October. AP -
A protester outside Parliament in London. Getty -
Questions are mounting over how much Mr Johnson knew about accusations of misconduct against MP Christopher Pincher. PA -
Nadhim Zahawi leaves No 10 Downing Street after being named as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer. Getty -
Mr Johnson survived an attempt by Tory MPs to oust him in a vote of confidence in June. PA -
Mr Johnson leaves the Houses of Parliament after the vote. Tory MPs voted by 211 to 148 in the secret ballot in Westminster. EPA -
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, announcing the result of the vote. PA -
A police officer patrols Downing Street on Monday. The vote of no confidence marked the most serious challenge yet to Mr Johnson's three-year tenure as prime minister. EPA -
A protester holds up an anti-Boris Johnson placard outside parliament in London. EPA -
Boris Johnson reads the long-awaited report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into the Downing Street party scandal. Photo: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street -
A gathering in the Cabinet Room at No 10 Downing Street on Mr Johnson's birthday. Photo: Cabinet Office -
Mr Johnson during a gathering held while lockdown rules were in force across the UK. Photo: Cabinet Office -
Another gathering at No 10 Downing Street to mark the departure of a special adviser. Photo: Cabinet Office -
Mr Johnson apologises to MPs in the House of Commons in April, having been fined after a police probe for attending a party during coronavirus lockdowns imposed by his own government. AFP -
Mr Johnson was no more than 30 seconds into his speech when the first shout of 'resign' was heard from the opposition benches, followed by 'you’re an embarrassment' and 'just go'. Reuters -
'I take this opportunity on the first available sitting day to repeat my wholehearted apology to the House,' he said, admitting that 'people had a right to expect better of their prime minister'. AFP -
The prime minister, pictured with a birthday cake baked for him by school staff at Bovingdon Primary Academy in Hemel Hempstead, said it ‘didn't occur’ to him that a gathering on June 19, 2020 to mark his 56th birthday broke coronavirus rules. AFP -
Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, left, was also fined for attending lockdown parties held in and around Downing Street. AFP -
Mr Johnson is the first sitting prime minister to be censured for breaking the law, sparking calls from all sides of parliament, including some in his own party, to step down. Reuters -
A lone protester demonstrates at Downing Street in London. EPA -
Before the war broke out in Ukraine, Mr Johnson appeared vulnerable to the Partygate controversy. He has been praised by some for his response to the conflict. AFP -
Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie applaud health workers outside No 10 Downing Street in May 2020. Getty -
Mr Johnson makes a statement in the House of Commons in January on a report regarding the Downing Street parties during lockdown. Reuters -
A journalist highlights sections of the Sue Gray report. AFP -
Mr Johnson is understood to have been present at six of at least 12 'partygate' events under investigation. One occurred on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, at which Queen Elizabeth II had to grieve away from other mourners because of social distancing protocol. Getty
