British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s grip on power was loosening by the minute on Wednesday amid more resignations of once-loyal MPs who now distance themselves from his leadership.
Seven members of his team quit the government before Prime Minister's Questions began at noon, following 10 departures on Tuesday evening.
By Wednesday evening, the tally had reached 38. The resignations started with Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, who delivered broadsides at Mr Johnson as they quit their Cabinet posts. Both said they could no longer tolerate the sense of scandal that has followed Mr Johnson for months.
In the face of growing opposition, Mr Johnson projected an air of defiance when he appeared before MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon.
While the new Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi was touring broadcasters, trying to present a united front on Wednesday, Will Quince resigned as Children and Families Minister.
Mr Quince said he could not accept being sent out to defend Mr Johnson on television with inaccurate information over the Chris Pincher row.
Mr Pincher held a government role but stepped down after being accused of groping two male MPs. It then emerged that there had been a string of allegations against him, with Downing Street struggling to give a convincing version of events.
Laura Trott then quit as a ministerial aide, saying “trust in politics is — and must always be — of the utmost importance, but sadly in recent months this has been lost”.
Schools Minister Robin Walker followed, saying the government has been “overshadowed by mistakes and questions about integrity”.
Treasury Minister John Glen was next. “I can no longer reconcile my commitment to the role” with “the complete lack of confidence I have in your continuing leadership of our country”, he said.
Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins resigned, saying she had given Mr Johnson the benefit of the doubt at each turn, but he had made “the contortions impossible”.
Parliamentary Private Secretary Felicity Buchan and agriculture undersecretary Jo Churchill were next to step down.
Departures on Tuesday included trade envoy to Morocco Andrew Murrison, Tory party vice chairman Bim Afolami, Solicitor General Alex Chalk, and junior ministers Jonathan Gullis, Saqib Bhatti, and Nicola Richards.
Another, Virginia Crosbie, told Mr Johnson: “You cannot be trusted to tell the truth. You can serve this country one last time by leaving office.”
Theodora Clarke resigned as a trade envoy, saying as one of the party’s new female MPs she took allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously and his handling of the Pincher affair had shown a “severe lack of judgment”.
Other Cabinet members, including Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace — two likely contenders for the leadership — continue to back Mr Johnson, aides said.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, a doggedly loyal cabinet ally, dismissed the resignations as “little local difficulties”.
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Resignations at a glance — 38
Sajid Javid, Health Secretary
Rishi Sunak, Chancellor
Andrew Murrison, trade envoy
Bim Afolami, vice chairman
Jonathan Gullis, aide
Saqib Bhatti, aide
Nicola Richards, aide
Virginia Crosbie, aide
Theo Clarke, trade envoy
Alex Chalk, Solicitor General
Will Quince, Children’s Minister
Laura Trott, aide
Robin Walker, Schools Minister
John Glen, Treasury Minister
Victoria Atkins, Home Office Minister
Felicity Buchan, aide
Jo Churchill, Environment Minister
Stuart Andrew, Housing Minister
Claire Coutinho, parliamentary private secretary to the Treasury
Selaine Saxby, aide
David Johnson, parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Education
Kemi Badenoch, Minister for Levelling Up Communities and Equalities
Julia Lopez, Data Minister
Mims Davies, Employment Minister
Lee Rowley, Industry Minister
Neil O’Brien, levelling up minister
Alex Burghart, Skills Minister
Craig Williams, parliamentary private secretary to the Treasury
Fay Jones, parliamentary private secretary to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Mark Logan, parliamentary private secretary to the Northern Ireland Office
Rachel Maclean, parliamentary under-secretary of state for safeguarding at the Home Office
Mike Freer, parliamentary under-secretary of state for exports at the Department for International Trade
Mark Fletcher, parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Sara Britcliffe, parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Education
Ruth Edwards, parliamentary private secretary at the Scottish Office
Peter Gibson, parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Trade
David Duguid, trade envoy
James Sunderland, parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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Johnson defiant as he faces MPs
Mr Johnson sought to deflect attention away from the Pincher scandal at Prime Minister's Questions.
In an effort to give the impression it was business as usual in No 10, he opened the session by focusing on his administration's implementation of “the biggest tax cut for a decade” to help households struggling under the cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Johnson was flanked on the Tory front bench by loyalist Dominic Raab and the new chancellor Mr Zahawi.
Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer held nothing back in his criticism of Mr Johnson's handling of the Pincher saga, going into graphic detail with the account of one of his accusers.
“I accept that is not easy listening, but it is a reminder to all those propping up this prime minister just how serious this situation is,” the Labour leader said.
“He knew the accused minister had previously committed predatory behaviour but he promoted him to a position of power anyway. Why?”
Mr Johnson responded by saying “very serious complaints” against Mr Pincher remain under investigation and it is “absolutely true” that a complaint was raised about the MP's behaviour before he was given a high position in the current administration.
“I greatly regret that he continued in office, and I have said that,” Mr Johnson said. “I have said that before. I have said that before, but it is now a subject of an independent investigation, and that is the right thing.”
Sir Keir lambasted Mr Johnson for sending his allies to defend “his decision to promote a sexual predator”.
He added that it was no longer enough for Mr Johnson to be replaced by another Tory MP as prime minister, and instead insisted it was time for the ruling Conservatives to be removed from power.
The Scottish National Party’s leader in Westminster, Ian Blackford, drew laughs when he said the prime minister was just a few days ago “dreaming of a third term” in Downing Street. He said it was nothing short of a “minor miracle” that Mr Johnson was still in power.
“A few weeks ago I compared the prime minister to Monty Python’s Black Knight, actually turns out I was wrong. He’s actually the dead parrot,” Mr Blackford said.
Conservative MP Gary Sambrook’s call for Mr Johnson to step down prompted a round of applause within the chamber.
“In an attempt to boost morale in the tea room, the prime minister said at a table that there were seven people — MPs — in the Carlton Club last week, and that one of them should have tried to intervene to stop Chris [Pincher] from drinking so much,” Mr Sambrook said.
“As if that wasn’t insulting enough to the people who did try to intervene that night and also to the victims — that drink was the problem.”
“The prime minister is constantly trying to deflect from the issue, always try to blame other people for mistakes,” he said. “There is at least nothing left for him to do other than to take responsibility and resign.”
After MPs erupted into a round of applause, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle reprimanded them as clapping in the chamber is discouraged.
Mr Johnson vowed to “keep going” as prime minister despite growing opposition among his own MPs.
He faced hours of questions from the leaders of the Commons' most powerful committees, who include some of his most virulent critics in the Tory ranks.
Much of the focus will be on the Pincher affair.
Days of shifting explanations had followed the resignation of the deputy chief whip, a position intended to keep MPs' behaviour in check. Downing Street at first denied Mr Johnson knew of prior allegations against Mr Pincher when appointing him in February.
But by Tuesday, that defence had collapsed after a former top civil servant said Mr Johnson, as foreign minister, was told in 2019 about another incident.
The Pincher affair was the “icing on the cake” for Mr Sunak and Mr Javid, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, a Johnson critic, told Sky News.
“I and a lot of the party now are determined that he will be gone by the summer break time [starting on July 22]: the sooner the better.”
Rishi Sunak throws in the towel
Mr Sunak's departure in particular, in the middle of policy differences over a cost-of-living crisis sweeping Britain, was bad news for Mr Johnson.
In his resignation letter, he said “the public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously”.
“I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning,” Mr Sunak wrote to Mr Johnson.
Mr Javid preceded Mr Sunak at the Treasury before quitting over an earlier dispute with Mr Johnson.
He wrote that the prime minister's survival in last month's no-confidence vote gave him the opportunity to show “humility, grip and new direction”.
“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.”
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Boris Johnson's rollercoaster career — in pictures
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Boris Johnson has had an eventful time during his life in politics and journalism. Here, 'The National' looks back at his life in pictures. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson attends the coronation ceremony of Britain's King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in May. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson leaves his home to attend a televised evidence session in March in front of the Commons Privileges Committee. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson listening to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy address parliamentarians in Westminster Hall in February. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and Carrie Johnson arrive at Westminster Abbey for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson he announces his resignation as prime minister outside 10 Downing Street in July 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson at a press conference in response to the publication of the Sue Gray report into Partygate at Downing Street in May 2022. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson reads the long-awaited report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into the Downing Street party scandal, in his Downing Street office in May 2022. Photo: Downing Street -
Mr Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in central Kyiv in April 2022. The British prime minister paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. AFP -
Mr Johnson watches an early morning police raid on a home in Liverpool as part of an operation to thwart drug dealing, in December, 2021. Getty Images -
The prime minister battles with his umbrella while with Prince Charles at The National Memorial Arboretum in July 2021, in Stafford, England. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and his wife before the Uefa European Championship final between Italy and England at Wembley Stadium, London, in July last year. Getty Images -
The British prime minister with US President Joe Biden, European Council President Charles Michel, former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi during the G7 Summit in Cornwall, in June 2021. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson with his wife Carrie in the garden of 10 Downing Street after their wedding at Westminster Cathedral, in May last year. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson visits Hartlepool after Conservative Party candidate Jill Mortimer won a parliamentary by-election in May, 2021. Getty Images -
The prime minister after receiving the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at St Thomas' Hospital in London in March, 2021. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson after signing a Brexit trade deal with the EU in December 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson examines a vial of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 candidate vaccine, at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wrexham, Wales, in November 2020. Getty -
Mr Johnson demonstrating the two-metre distancing rule during his visit to St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Upminster, East London, in August 2020. PA -
In this photo, published alongside the Sue Gray report into the Partygate affair, Mr Johnson is seen at a gathering in the Cabinet Room in 10 Downing Street on his birthday in June, 2020. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and former chancellor Rishi Sunak use hand sanitiser during a visit to the Pizza Pilgrims restaurant in June 2020, in east London, to see how they are getting their business ready to reopen as coronavirus lockdown restrictions were lifted in England. PA -
Mr Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds applaud key workers outside 10 Downing Street in May 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson in the Cabinet Room observing a minute's silence in April 2020 in a tribute to the health staff and key workers who died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA -
Boris Johnson appears on monitors for a meeting in March 2020. The prime minister chaired morning meetings on the coronavirus remotely from Number 11 Downing Street, while self-isolating after testing positive for the virus. Reuters -
Members of a family listen as BMr ris Johnson makes a televised address to the nation from 10 Downing Street in March 2020, where he outlined the latest instructions to stay at home to help contain the Covid-19 outbreak. AFP -
Mr Johnson speaks to British troops stationed in Estonia during a one-day visit to the Baltic country in December 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson and Carrie Symonds enter Downing Street as the Conservatives celebrate a sweeping election victory in December 2019. Getty -
Boris Johnson is greeted by staff at 10 Downing Street after meeting Queen Elizabeth II and accepting her invitation to form a new government in December 2012. PA -
Former US president Donald Trump and Mr Johnson arrive for a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in August 2019 in Biarritz, France. Getty -
The queen welcomes Mr Johnson as the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party, during an audience in July 2019. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson, then Britain's foreign secretary, stands in front of St Basil's Cathedral during a visit to Moscow's Red Square in December 2017. Getty -
Mr Johnson collides with a child during a Street Rugby tournament in Tokyo in 2015, held to mark Japan hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup -
As mayor of London Mr Johnson competes in a tug-of-war in October 2015. Getty Images -
The Olympic Flag is passed from Mr Johnson to IOC President Jacques Rogge during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Getty Images -
Mayor of London Boris Johnson with Prime Minister David Cameron during the lighting of the Paralympic Cauldron in Trafalgar Square, in August 2012. PA -
Boris Johnson gets stuck on a zip-line during a BT London Live event in Victoria Park in August 2012. Getty -
Mr Johnson and Lord Sebastian Coe cheer as a giant set of Olympic rings is displayed from Tower Bridge in June 2012, Getty Images -
Mr Johnson gestures attends a Harry Potter studio tour of Diagon Alley, at the Warner Brother Studios, London, in December 2011. AP Photo -
Mr Johnson at the launch of London's first cycle hire scheme in July 2010. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson with artists' impressions of the design for London's new Routemaster bus in May 2010. Getty Images -
The candidates to be mayor of London; Labour's Ken Livingstone, Conservative Boris Johnson and Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick, being questioned on BBC's 'Newsnight' programme in April 2008. Getty Images -
Boris Johnson on the North Pier in Blackpool during the Conservative Party conference there in October 2005. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson at his desk in 2000 while he was a journalist for 'The Telegraph'. Getty Images -
Mr Johnson when he was president of the Oxford Union society speaking to the Greek minister for culture Melina Mercouri when she addressed the union. Reuters -
Boris Johnson in September 1979, at Eton School. Shutterstock
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Mr Johnson, 58, has been embroiled in several scandals, above all the Partygate affair, in which he was fined by police for breaking his own coronavirus lockdown restrictions in Downing Street.
He still faces a parliamentary inquiry into whether he lied to MPs over the lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street.
On Wednesday, Mr Zahawi hinted at reversing a planned rise in corporation tax as part of the effort to restore trust between the leadership and Tory MPs.
But the Cabinet reshuffle does not appear to have persuaded Mr Johnson’s critics to hold fire.
Minister who defended PM on TV quits over 'inaccurate' briefing
Mr Quince was one of the ministers sent on the airwaves to defend Mr Johnson’s position over Mr Pincher, who quit as deputy chief whip after allegedly assaulting two men while drunk at a London club.
The prime minister later acknowledged he had previously been informed of allegations against Mr Pincher dating to 2019 and said he regretted keeping him in government beyond that point.
Mr Quince said he had received a “sincere apology” from Mr Johnson for being sent out with an “inaccurate” briefing about the prime minister’s knowledge of events.
But “I have no choice but to tender my resignation” as “I accepted and repeated those assurances in good faith”.
The prime minister’s authority had already been damaged by a confidence vote in which 41 per cent of his own MPs withdrew their support in June.
The loss of crunch by-elections in Tiverton and Honiton and Wakefield later that month led to the resignation of party chairman Oliver Dowden, while there is still lingering anger over coronavirus lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street.
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to stand down as leader after a rebellion in the ruling Conservative Party. Officials who have resigned from his government include: Sajid Javid, health secretary. AP -
Rishi Sunak, chancellor. PA -
Andrew Murrison, trade envoy. PA -
Bim Afolami, Tory party vice chairman. PA -
Jonathan Gullis, aide. AFP -
Saqib Bhatti, aide. Photo: UK Parliament -
Nicola Richards, aide. Photo: UK Parliament -
Virginia Crosbie, aide. Photo: UK Parliament -
Theodora Clarke, trade envoy. Photo: UK Parliament -
Alex Chalk, solicitor general. PA -
Will Quince, children’s minister. AFP -
Laura Trott, aide. PA -
Robin Walker, schools minister. PA -
John Glen, Treasury minister. PA -
Victoria Atkins, home office minister. Photo: UK Parliament -
Felicity Buchan, aide. Photo: UK Parliament -
Jo Churchill, environment minister. PA -
Stuart Andrew, housing minister. Getty Images -
Claire Coutinho, parliamentary private secretary to the Treasury. Reuters -
Selaine Saxby, aide. PA -
David Johnson, parliamentary private secretary at the Department for Education. PA -
Kemi Badenoch, minister for levelling up communities and for equalities. Photo: UK Parliament -
Julia Lopez, data minister. Photo: UK Parliament -
Mims Davies, employment minister. Photo: UK Parliament -
Lee Rowley, industry minister. Photo: UK Parliament -
Neil O’Brien, levelling up minister. Photo: UK Parliament -
Alex Burghart, skills minister. Photo: UK Parliament -
Craig Williams, parliamentary private secretary to the Treasury. PA -
Fay Jones, parliamentary private secretary to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. PA -
Mark Logan, parliamentary private secretary at the Northern Ireland Office. PA -
Simon Hart, secretary of state for Wales. AFP -
Brandon Lewis, Northern Ireland secretary. AP -
Rachel Maclean, minister for safeguarding. PA -
Mike Freer, minister for exports and minister for equalities. PA -
Edward Argar, minister for health. PA -
Damian Hinds, security minister. AP -
Helen Whately, exchequer secretary to the treasury. AP -
George Freeman, science minister. PA -
Duncan Baker, aide. Photo: UK Parliament -
Mark Fletcher, aide. PA -
Sara Britcliffe, aide. PA -
Ruth Edwards, aide. PA -
Peter Gibson, aide. PA -
James Sunderland, aide. PA -
Jacob Young, aide. PA -
James Daly, aide. PA -
Danny Kruger, aide. PA -
Dr James Davies, aide. Photo: UK Parliament -
Gareth Davies, aide. Photo: UK Parliament -
David Duguid, trade envoy. Photo: UK Parliament -
David Mundell, trade envoy. PA -
Guy Opperman, pensions minister. PA -
Michelle Donelan, education secretary. PA -
Chris Philp, technology minister. PA -
James Cartlidge, courts minister. PA -
Rebecca Pow, environment minister. PA -
Caroline Johnson, Tory Party vice-chairwoman. Photo: UK Parliament -
Rob Butler, aide. Photo: UK Parliament -
Luke Hall, deputy chair of the Conservative Party. Photo: UK Parliament
Tory MPs are also uneasy about the government’s high spending, high taxing approach following the pandemic.
Mr Zahawi sought to reassure Conservatives that “nothing is off the table” when questioned about possibly cancelling the planned increase in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent in April 2023.
“I will look at everything. There’s nothing off the table. I want to be one of the most competitive countries in the world for investment,” he told Sky News.
“I know that boards around the world, when they make investment decisions, they’re long term, and the one tax they can compare globally is corporation tax. I want to make sure that we are as competitive as we can be while maintaining fiscal discipline.”
Mr Zahawi toured the broadcast studios after Mr Quince's resignation and told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “He felt let down, clearly. All I would say to my colleagues is, people don’t vote for divided teams.”
But the chancellor said he believed the prime minister had integrity and was “determined to deliver for this country”.
