Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - According to a government source, Boris Johnson will quit as British prime minister on Thursday after ...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - According to a government source, Boris Johnson will quit as British prime minister on Thursday after being spurned by ministers and parliamentarians from his Conservative Party who claimed he was no longer qualified to lead.
Eight ministers, including two secretary of state, had resigned in the previous two hours, and Johnson was prepared to accept defeat and announce his resignation later.
His Downing Street office acknowledged that Johnson would later address the nation.
After battling for his job for days, Johnson had lost all but a few of his allies when the most recent of a string of scandals soured their support for him.
The Conservative Party's deputy chairman, Justin Tomlinson, wrote on Twitter that "his resignation was inevitable." "We must rapidly come together as a party and concentrate on what is important. There are numerous important issues at hand right now."
It will now be up to the Conservatives to choose a new leader, a procedure that may take up to two months.
Johnson's finance minister, Nadhim Zahawi, who was just appointed to his position on Tuesday, had called for his boss to resign as an indication of his waning support during one of the most chaotic 24 hours in recent British political history.
He said on Twitter that "this is not sustainable and it will only grow worse: for you, the Conservative Party, and most importantly of all, the country." "You must depart immediately and act morally."
Defense Minister Ben Wallace and other people who stayed in their positions claimed that they were only doing so because it was their duty to protect the nation.
The administration was in a state of paralysis due to the large number of resignations of ministers.
When the vivacious Johnson assumed office over three years ago, he campaigned on a platform of expediting Britain's withdrawal from the European Union and delivering it from the acrimonious squabbling that followed the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Since then, some Conservatives have warmly supported the former journalist and mayor of London, while others have supported him despite their qualms because he was able to win over voters who typically rejected their party.
The election in December 2019 confirmed that. But a number of his legislators have lost patience with his administration's confrontational and frequently disorganised style of governance, and surveys show that the general public no longer approves of him.
The current situation started when MP Chris Pincher, who previously served in a pastoral care capacity for the government, was forced to resign due to claims that he had lewdly touched males in a members-only club.
When it was out that Johnson had been informed before appointing Pincher that he had previously faced sexual misconduct allegations, he was forced to issue an apology. According to the prime minister, he had forgotten.
This came after several scandals and gaffes over the preceding months, including a devastating report into drunken gatherings at his Downing Street apartment and office that violated COVID-19 lockdown regulations and led to a police fine for a celebration of his 56th birthday.
As many Britons struggle to cope with rising fuel and food prices, there have also been policy U-turns, a misguided defence of a politician who violated lobbying laws, and allegations that he has not done enough to combat inflation.
