According to a recent YouGov survey of thousands of UK adults, seven in ten Britons think Boris Johnson should step down from his position, and the majority of those who supported the Conservative Party in the 2019 election agree.
Two of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet members, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, submitted their resignations earlier today, casting serious doubt on the future of Johnson as Prime Minister.
More than half (54%) of respondents who said they voted Conservative in the 2019 general election agreed with the YouGov poll’s finding that 69 percent of people think the PM should resign, up 11% from June 9.
Just days after narrowly surviving a no-confidence vote, only 34% of Conservative backers wanted Johnson gone on June 9.
This suggests that for many Tory supporters, today’s Cabinet resignations are the last straw.
Only 1 in 5 YouGov survey respondents truly think the Prime Minister will take their requests for Johnson’s resignation seriously, despite the fact that only 18% of Brits generally think he should stay in charge.
As the newest matter to cast doubt on the Prime Minister’s judgment, his handling of the controversy involving scandal-plagued former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher, the Prime Minister was already facing an uphill battle to stay in No. 10.
The survey results, according to Patrick English, Associate Director of Political and Social Research at YouGov, “make for dismal reading for Boris Johnson.”
He is losing the struggle for support not only with the general public but also with the supporters of his own party because more than half of the very individuals who elected him into office in 2019 now want him gone.
Within minutes of one another, Sunak and Javid both sent Johnson letters of resignation that criticized his capacity to lead an organization that upheld standards.
In a crushing blow to the PM, Sunak said: “The public correctly expects government to be done professionally, competently, and seriously.” He said, “I believe these principles are worth fighting for and that is why I am leaving.”
Johnson hurriedly appointed Nadhim Zahawi, a former businessman and current minister of education, as his new finance minister and gave his chief of staff, Steve Barclay, the assignment of serving as health secretary.
The setback occurs just one month after Johnson barely made it through a vote of no-confidence in which 41% of his own MPs withdrew their support.
The dual resignations of Mr Javid and Mr Sunak imply Mr Johnson’s position is now perilous, but Cabinet members including Dominic Raab, Liz Truss, Michael Gove, Therese Coffey and Ben Wallace announced they would be staying in the Government.
However, Bim Afolami, Theo Clarke, Andrew Murrison, and ministerial aides Jonathan Gullis, Saqib Bhatti, Nicola Richards, and Virginia Crosbie all announced their resignations from their positions as Tory vice-chairs live on television.
If the rules of the Tory 1922 Committee are altered to permit another confidence vote within a year, the decision about the Prime Minister’s future may ultimately rest with backbench MPs.
A hastily scheduled broadcast interview in the prime minister’s Commons office served as a warning that the leader was in danger.
When it became clear that he had forgotten to be informed of prior accusations of “inappropriate” behaviour, he attempted to contain the controversy surrounding Pincher.
Pincher resigned from his position as deputy chief whip last week after allegations that he groped two men at the upscale Carlton Club, but Johnson was already aware of the accusations against him in 2019.
When Pincher was discovered to have acted inappropriately while serving as a Foreign Office minister in 2019, the Prime Minister acknowledged he should have fired him; however, Johnson went on to nominate him to other government positions.
Johnson responded, “I think it was a mistake and I’m sorry for it,” when asked if that was a mistake. In retrospect, it was the incorrect action to take.
I sincerely apologize to everyone who was negatively impacted by it. I want to be very clear that anyone who is predatory or who abuses their position of power has no place in this government.
The previous 2019 complaints had not been brought up to Johnson, according to information provided to MPs.
Then-foreign secretary and deputy prime minister Dominic Raab reprimanded Pincher for his “inappropriate” behaviour in “no uncertain terms,” and the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team was also involved.
Following Mr. Pincher’s abrupt resignation, No. 10 first claimed Johnson was unaware of any “particular claims.”
That statement had changed by Monday to indicate that the Prime Minister was aware of “allegations that were either settled or did not escalate to a formal complaint.”