Johnson fights for survival as two more MPs join flurry of resignations
(Adds pound sliding to lowest levels since 2020 in graph 9)
London, Jul 6 (EFE).- A further two members of Boris Johnson’s conservative government stepped down on Wednesday after a flurry of resignations, including two senior ministers who withdrew their support for the United Kingdom’s prime minister who is now fighting for survival.
On Wednesday children’s minister, Will Quince, and parliamentary private secretary to the department of transport, MP Laura Trott, handed in their resignations after the shock resignations of chancellor Rishi Sunak and health chief Sajid Javid on Tuesday.
In his letter of resignation to the prime minister, Quince said that he was leaving with “great sadness and regret” after Johnson admitted that he had known that Chris Pincher had been investigated over allegations of inappropriate behavior towards men when appointing him as deputy chief whip earlier this year.
On Monday, Quince defended Johnson in interviews and, in his resignation letter, said he had received “inaccurate” information from Downing street for Monday’s media briefing.
MP Trott said Wednesday that “trust in politics is — and must always be — of the utmost importance, but sadly in recent months this has been lost.”
In addition to Sunak and Javid — who were key figures in Johnson’s team — Bim Afolami resigned as Tory party vice-chair, and Andrew Murrison stepped down as trade envoy to Morocco, in a further blow to the prime minister.
Two parliamentary private secretaries, Jonathan Gullis and Saqib Bhatti, also joined the Tuesday mass walkout.
Johnson is mired in the deepest crisis to strike his government since he won the 2019 general election with a landslide victory.
On Wednesday the pound slid to its weakest level since March 2020 as it traded below $1.19.
The Tory leader is set to face his peers at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday afternoon.
The PM is also expected to give evidence to the Liaison Committee, where he will be questioned over his policies by a select group of MPs.
The Conservative leader recently survived an internal no-confidence vote in which 41% of Tory lawmakers voted against the PM following a string of scandals involving his team ranging from pandemic lockdown breaches to sexual assault allegations.
According to media reports, conservative rebels are plotting to overturn the 1922 Committee — a committee of all backbench Conservative MPs — in order to call for a second no-confidence vote.
Under the committee’s current rules, Johnson would be exempt from a no-confidence vote for the next 12 months. EFE
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