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Theresa May’s premiership was on the danger of disintegrating when Boris Johnson abruptly resigned as her foreign secretary.
After experiencing a wave of widespread government resignations over the past two days, Johnson is also meeting his demise in a similar way.
Here, we look at Johnson’s ascent to power, as well as his triumphs, disputes, and harrowing fall from grace during the past three years.
Theresa May’s Foreign Secretary resigning
Boris Johnson’s resignation as foreign secretary in July 2018 dealt Theresa May’s ailing administration a severe blow.
After Mr. Johnson abruptly resigned over her “third way” Brexit plan, Mrs. May was forced to fight for her political survival.
He quit immediately before the then-PM spoke in the Commons to address MPs about the compromise package she compelled the Cabinet to approve.
A vote of no confidence was then held by Conservative MPs after Mrs. May went on to lose the majority that the Conservative Party controlled in Parliament in a snap election in December 2018.
Despite winning the vote, she was unable to convince Parliament to approve her Brexit plan three times and resigned in anticipation of a confidence vote, which she was expected to lose and opened the door for a Tory leadership contest.
Johnson becomes PM after May resigns.
On July 23, 2019, Mr. Johnson defeated challenger Jeremy Hunt by garnering 66% of the vote in the Tory leadership contest.
The following day, Mrs. May announced her resignation as prime minister, and Mr. Johnson agreed to form a government at the Queen’s request.
He stated in his inaugural address that he wished to “Deliver, Unite, Defeat, and Energize: D.U.D.E!”
Many senior Tories who opposed Brexit were stripped of their whip privileges during his first days in power, including former Chancellor and Father of the House Ken Clarke.
Parliament was adjourned
As the possibility of a no-deal Brexit grew, Johnson asked the Queen to prorogue, or suspend, parliament until October 14.
The request was granted by the Queen, therefore Parliament would be adjourned for five weeks.
However, the UK Supreme Court determined in September that Johnson’s recommendation to the Queen that parliament be adjourned for five weeks was illegal.
Judges ruled that it was improper to obstruct MPs from performing their jobs in the days leading up to the October 31 Brexit deadline.
starting a general election and winning it
Johnson called for a general election, which took place on December 12, 2019, in an effort to succeed where his predecessor fell short.
His bet paid out because the Conservatives got 365 seats, which is more than the 326 required for a majority.
There were only 203 remaining for Labour Party leader and Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn.
Following the event, Corbyn declared he would not lead Labour into the following general election.
“Complete Brexit,”
One of the key issues in the 2019 election was Britain’s exit from the European Union, and the Conservatives under Johnson frequently chanted, “Get Brexit done.”
The phrase appeared to reflect the public’s fatigue with the subject, which had grown to be a major source of debate in the three years following the 2016 referendum in which the nation chose to leave the EU.
The Conservatives won a majority in Parliament after releasing their manifesto in November with the tagline “Get Brexit Done, Unleash Britain’s Potential.”
Johnson prevented a no-deal Brexit in December 2020, one year later, by securing a last-minute trade and security agreement with the EU.
Since then, his allies have praised him for “getting Brexit done.”
coronavirus pandemic begins
The first UK Covid death occurred on January 30, 2020.
On March 23, just two months later, Johnson declared that Britons must stay inside during the first lockdown.
Johnson acknowledged that he was on the verge of passing away from the virus after being taken to the hospital in April with “chronic symptoms” of Covid and being moved to intensive care as they “worsened.”
Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, effectively led the government while Johnson was recuperating.
Lockdown for months
Since the beginning of June, Britain’s daily total of Covid cases peaked on September 3.
According to a paper that was leaked, Johnson believed that the ‘only hope for averting a second lockdown’ before a vaccine would be a large testing effort.
However, the second lockdown is implemented in November, and concerns about the country’s Christmas preparations grow. Johnson reiterates England’s proposal for a five-day window for up to three homes to meet over the holiday, saying it would be “inhuman” to cancel the event.
On December 19, the prime minister declares that Christmas in the nation “cannot proceed as planned.”
Deployment of vaccines
Despite “cancelling Christmas,” Johnson received excellent news on the COVID front on December 8, 2020, when immunizations started and Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother, became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 shot after it received clinical approval.
The most vulnerable were given priority in the initial stage of the rollout, according to a schedule mostly based on age. On December 30, 2020, the distribution schedule was changed to postpone second doses so that more people may receive their first dosage.
With one of the greatest acceptance rates in its initial few months, Britain’s deployment was among the fastest in the world.
Johnson received his first dosage of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on March 19 in London’s St Thomas’ hospital, where he had been treated for the virus in intensive care the year before.
“Everyone, when you receive your notification to go for a shot, please go and get it,” he said. It’s the best course of action for you, your family, and everyone else.
Wallpapergate
Britain’s election commission fined the Conservatives £17,800 for failing to adequately record a donation used to pay for Johnson’s Downing Street apartment renovation, which was overseen by a celebrity designer and featured gold wallpaper.
Later, Johnson’s ethics advisor criticized the prime minister for keeping some texts from the donor a secret. He came to the conclusion, though, that Johnson had not fabricated the messages on purpose.
Johnson and Keir Starmer got into a heated argument in April 2021 after the elections watchdog opened a formal investigation into whether “offenses” had been committed in a Downing Street flat dispute.
The Electoral Commission stated there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” the law may have been broken regarding the contentious No. 11 refurbishment, but the visibly incensed PM insisted he “paid for the refurbishment myself” and had complied with the ministerial code.
But when Sir Keir insisted that he “answer the question,” he constantly avoided mentioning if £58,000 in Tories’ money had been spent for the projects before he refunded it.
He said, “I paid for it.” “I have paid the expenses.”
A report from the following month revealed that Johnson had ‘unwisely’ started renovating his Downing Street apartment without knowing how it will be paid for.
According to the report by Christopher Geidt, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, the Conservative party and Tory peer and donor David Brownlow intervened to pay the bills at first.
But Lord Geidt declared that he was pleased that “no conflict (or reasonably perceived conflict) arises as a result of these interests” in light of Lord Brownlow’s status as an established party supporter and the Covid pandemic.
Johnson did not violate the ministerial code, according to Geidt, who also stated that the prime minister has now correctly reported the interests.
Partygate
The first news of what would become known as “partygate” appeared on November 30, 2021, with allegations that Downing Street staff had gathered three times nearly a year earlier, when London was under lockdown restrictions.
The Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election was easily won by the Conservatives two days after the story had initially received little attention.
The party had to defend itself against accusations of breaking the law after the conservatives failed to seize the initiative with their “crime week” series of announcements about law and order.
First, a video of Allegra Stratton, the former Downing Street press secretary, making jokes about parties during a practice press conference leaked online.
A day later, Mr. Johnson apologized at Prime Minister’s Questions, declaring that he was “furious” about the video, and named Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to look into the claims. She later announced her resignation.
The Electoral Commission fined the Conservatives £17,800 on December 9 after discovering that they had incorrectly reported donations from Lord Brownlow for the renovation of Mr. Johnson’s Downing Street apartment.
The Electoral Commission investigation turned up WhatsApp messages that raised more concerns about what the Prime Minister knew about the source of the donations, even though Lord Geidt, the Prime Minister’s adviser on standards, had previously cleared Mr. Johnson of wrongdoing.
From that point on, the Government was continuously diverted by a steady stream of partygate stories, which included images of Mr. Johnson participating in a Christmas quiz and relaxing in the Number 10 garden while staff members appeared to be drinking wine and chit-chatting.
On December 14, however, nearly 100 of the prime minister’s backbenchers rebelled against the new Covid-19 restrictions, providing the first obvious indication of the prime minister’s declining influence.
The Liberal Democrats defeated Mr. Paterson’s 23,000-vote majority and won the North Shropshire by-election two days later with a 6,000-vote margin.
By the end of the week, following allegations that his staff had held their own Christmas party, Simon Case had removed himself from the partygate investigation and Lord Frost had resigned.
Sue Gray assumed control.
There wasn’t much relief for the government in the new year.
As part of Partygate, Martin Reynolds, Mr. Johnson’s private secretary, leaked an email inviting 100 people to a party in Downing Street while the nation was still under martial law.
The email also claimed that Mr. Johnson had personally attended the event.
These allegations were verified at Prime Minister’s Questions when Mr. Johnson apologized once more and acknowledged going to the party, which he claimed he thought was a “work event.”
More Conservative MPs demanded his resignation, further exposing the party’s internal conflicts.
As Bury South MP Christian Wakeford left the party for Labour on January 19, divisions within the group grew.
The most senior Tory MP to publicly call for the resignation of the prime minister was David Davis.
A censored version of Ms. Gray’s report into partygate, which included several scathing criticisms of Downing Street’s culture, was published in early 2022.
war in Ukraine
Following Russia’s invasion, Johnson was one of the first world leaders to send weapons to Ukraine. He later became the first head of state from western Europe to address the Ukrainian parliament.
Johnson promised British arms and financial support to the Ukrainian cause during a surprise visit to Kiev in April 2022.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, praised the PM and contrasted Johnson’s eagerness to assist with a less eager response from other NATO nations like Germany.
Vote of no confidence
In June 2022, 148 of Boris Johnson’s MPs voted to have him ousted from Downing Street, but he survived the no-confidence motion.
In one of the worst assessments of a sitting prime minister by their own party in recent memory, he received the support of just 211 MPs.
In comparison to his predecessor, Theresa May, in 2018 and to Margaret Thatcher in 1990, more MPs voted against him this time around.
Nick Pincher
Chris Pincher abruptly resigned from his position as deputy chief whip on June 30, 2022, following allegations that he had physically assaulted two other clubgoers the previous evening at the Carlton Party, a Tory private members’ club in London.
When Mr. Pincher was appointed to the whips position, Downing Street claimed Mr. Johnson was unaware of any “specific allegations” against him.
However, it later became clear that Mr. Johnson had been informed of allegations against Mr. Pincher as early as 2019.
On July 5, it was revealed that Mr. Johnson had forgotten about being informed of prior accusations of “inappropriate” behavior, forcing him to issue a humiliating explanation for how he handled the situation.
The mood among Conservative MPs in the Commons was mutinous, as people lined up to criticize No 10’s handling of the situation.
Then, with explosive resignation letters, Sajid Javid resigned as health secretary and Rishi Sunak resigned as chancellor.
54 MPs had resigned from the government payroll by June 7 morning.
Despite the resignations, Boris made it clear that he intended to remain in his position by making a defiant gesture on Wednesday at the Commons Liaison Committee.
After the Education Secretary Michelle Donelan and the Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi ordered ham to leave after just 36 hours in office, it was rumored that Boris was going to resign from the position he had sought since he was a young boy.
Despite acknowledging that the game is over, Boris is reportedly trying to hold onto his position as “caretaker PM” until the autumn Conservative Party Conference.