Following the announcement that Boris Johnson would step down as prime minister, Britons continued to enjoy the political drama around him. This morning, numerous humorous memes were uploaded on social media.
The resignations of 59 MPs and ministers over the past two days have caused Mr. Johnson to lose his position as prime minister.
Tuesday night saw the resignations of the chancellor Rishi Sunak and the health secretary Sajid Javid, which resulted in walkouts by more junior members of the government.
After urging the PM to step down, Johnson fired Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Housing last night.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis and Education Secretary Michelle Donelan both resigned this morning. Security minister Damien Hinds, pensions minister Guy Opperman, courts minister James Cartlidge, exchequer secretary Helen Whateley, and science minister George Freeman all resigned.
On Thursday morning, only 36 hours after assuming office, newly installed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi issued a statement calling on the Prime Minister to resign, urging Mr Johnson, ‘You must do the right thing and go now.’
‘The prime minister will make a statement to the country today,’ said a spokeswoman for Number 10.
As Mr Johnson’s tenure in Number 10 draws to a close, scores of memes making light of the situation have been shared on Twitter.
The hashtag #BorisGoneson has begun to gain traction on the social media platform, with one user describing the ‘new Tory slogan’ as ‘Going, going, gone’.
One showed Nadine Dorries and Boris Johnson in a cartoon cave with the subtitles, ‘This is where I come to cry,’ with the Tweet reading: ‘Boris and Nadine running the UK alone’.
One made reference to the Prime Minister’s wife Carrie Johnson and the expensive and controversial refurbishment of the Downing Street flat by designer Lulu Lytle.
The tweet read: ‘Carrie with the iron frantically steaming off the gold wallpaper and stuffing it into an overnight bag.’
Similarly, another one shows a movie scene with a couple arguing. ‘Boris’ tells ‘Carrie’, ‘I know you have just decorated, but we have to go. Now!’, and ‘Carrie’ responds: ‘I’m not leaving behind the 20th Century Italian red-painted, parcel gilt, steel and giltwood four poster bed. Hang on…’
One said, ‘Boris is resigning, this calls for toast,’ with a picture of a Lurpak butter tub.
Another mentioned horror film Jaws by depicting the film’s upbeat mayor of Amity Island outside Downing Street.
Referencing the moment where the mayor promised the beaches were safe before the killer shark struck again, the tweet read: ‘The Cabinet is open and everyone is having a wonderful time’.
Some people on Twitter have looked to the other candidates that could replace Boris later this year.
Before handing in his resignation a staggering 57 MPs and ministers handed in their own letters notifying the PM of their intent to leave, many people wondered how Boris would manage to fill all the gaps in his Cabinet and Tory party.
One user wrote ‘Boris trying to hand out Ministerial posts’, with the picture of a man chucking notes all over the place.
Another made reference to the legendary ‘What a sad little life Jane’ Come Dine With Me meme, which shows a diner looking intently at his fellow competitors to mirror Boris looking at his Cabinet after the few days.
A third jokingly quoted Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, depicting him as saying: ‘The thing is Boris, you have visited quite a few times already’.
It was making reference to previous visits to Kyiv by Mr Johnson which have coincided with domestic criticism of the PM, sparking claims that the trips were attempts to distract from the bad press.
Another meme riffed on Mr Johnson’s famous Brexit slogan, saying ‘Get Exit Done’ above a photo of the PM walking out of Number 10.
A fifth showed an illustration of the sinking Titanic and said: ‘Live scenes from Downing St’.
Again on the subject of the Downing Street flat refurbishment, another tweet showed a famous photograph of the frantic US evacuation of Saigon during the Vietnam war and said: ‘Scenes from Number 10 as Carrie Johnson flees with the wallpaper.’
A third person on the subject suggested that the PM may “re-wallpaper” the Downing Street apartment using the resignation letters he had received.
Last night, Mr. Javid announced his resignation in a fiery letter to the prime minister. Mr. Sunak quickly responded with a similar tirade.
In place of Mr. Javid, the PM named his chief of staff Steve Barclay as Health Secretary, and Nadhim Zahawi was elevated to the position of Chancellor.
Following the publication of a letter by former senior civil servant Lord McDonald of Salford, critics of the PM’s nomination of suspected groper Chris Pincher to the whips’ office gained further ammo.
Mr Sunak stated in his resignation letter that ‘we cannot continue like this,’ and that he was leaving despite the fact that his senior position may be his last in government.
‘The public rightly expect Government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously,’ he wrote.
Yesterday, Mr Zahawi was hit with news of another resignation while he was live on air.
Nadhim Zahawi was in the middle of an interview on the BBC’s flagship Today programme on Wednesday morning when he was informed that children’s minister Will Quince had joined the exodus, slamming No10’s ‘inaccurate’ claims about the Chris Pincher allegations.
Asked whether it meant Mr Johnson is ‘over’, a sombre-looking Mr Zahawi responded: ‘I am deeply sorry to see colleagues leave government.’
Schools minister Robin Walker joined his former colleague in walking out, saying the government was being ‘overshadowed by mistakes and questions about integrity’.