Downfall of a Prime Minister: Boris Johnson's Decline from Power and the Conservative Leadership Election
nationalworld.com
Since mid-2021, Mr Johnson’s premiership has been hit with an array of scandals and resignations, leading to a decline in his authority within the House of Commons and credibility with the people. This ultimately culminated in his resignation on July 7th.
Events charting Johnson’s downfall
June 2021: Loss of Chesham and Amersham
● The Conservative Party unexpectedly loses the safe seat of Chesham and Amersham to the Liberal Democrats after a successful round of local elections.
● This was a perceived symbol of Conservative ineptitude and an event that marks the beginning of his descent from power.
October 2021: Owen Paterson lobbying
● Controversy begins over Johnson’s support towards Owen Paterson, who had been found breaking lobbying rules by the Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards.
● His U-turn later on this issue after being faced with public anger increased concerns over his political judgement and focussed public attention on standards, second jobs and sleaze in Westminster.
● The resignation of Owen Paterson also later led to the loss of yet another safe seat to the LibDems.
Late 2021-February 2022: Partygate
● Perhaps the most damning event leading up to the resignation of Boris Johnson, Partygate was a series of parties held and organised by Tory MPs despite Covid-19 public health restrictions prohibiting gatherings of this kind.
● Met Police investigation and the Sue Gray report also revealed excessive drinking and lack of respect shown to cleaning and security staff. She concluded that senior political and civil service leadership "must bear responsibility for this culture".
● This sparked waves of public anger across Britain especially amongst several who had been prohibited from events like the funerals of their loved ones due to the restrictions.
May 2022: Local elections
● Following the Partygate scandal and decline in support for the Conservative Party, local elections resulted in large gains for opposition parties with Labour gaining 108 seats and the Liberal Democrats’ gains of 224 seats.
● In contrast, the Conservatives made a net loss of 487 seats in comparison to 2017 in Scotland and Wales and 2018 in England.
● These results were a sharp indicator of Johnson’s unpopularity and incompetence as the leader of the Party.
Early June 2022: Vote of no confidence in Johnson’s leadership
● The local elections in turn triggered a vote of no confidence within the Conservative Party in which Mr Johnson received a 59% approval rating from his own party.
● Despite Johnson’s claim that the result of the vote were "extremely good", many pointed out that his 59% confidence level was lower than the 63% that Theresa May, who later resigned 6 months later, received in her 2019 vote of confidence and was viewed as extremely politically damaging to Johnson.
Late June 2022: Chris Pincher scandal
● Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher resigns after allegations he had sexually assaulted two men resurfaces.
● This is followed with allegations that his behaviour had previously been reported to the Prime Minister and that Johnson had ignored them.
July 5th 2022: Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid resigns
● The Chancellor and Health Secretary resign, prompting a wave of resignations from numerous junior ministers, most of whom cited a lack of honesty and integrity on the part of Johnson.
● In the next 24 hours, 36 MPs resigned from their roles in government.
July 7th 2022: Boris Johnson resigns as Prime Minister
● Despite having stated the day before that he “would keep going” despite the circumstances, Johnson announced his resignation on the morning of July 7th.
● It has been speculated that this is due to the fact that several members of the Cabinet, including Sunak’s replacement Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, had gathered inside 10 Downing Street to call on Johnson to resign.
Conservative leadership election
Beginning on July 12th with results expected by 5 September, the candidates to become the leader of the Conservative Party and Britain’s next Prime Minister have been whittled down to two: former Chancellor, Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Both highly educated with similar levels of experience in government, the two recently went head-to-head in televised debates to discuss what policies and reforms they would implement as Prime Minister.
Rishi Sunak
● Economy: Desire to return to “austerity economics” to battle inflation
○ Aims to cut taxes but wishes to cut inflation first
○ Since then however, he has made a U-turn committing to scrapping VAT on household fuel bills for a year. The handout would be worth £160 for every household.
○ Plan to increase corporation tax from 19% to 25% in April 2023
○ Believes public sector pay deals should be decided by independent pay review bodies
● Defence: Wishes to maintain defence spending, viewing the current minimum level of spending 2% of GDP “as a floor, not a ceiling”
● Environment: A new legal target for the UK to be energy independent by 2045
○ Maintaining the government’s legally binding goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050
Liz Truss
● Economy: Believes in low tax and low regulation
○ Wishes to reverse the national insurance rate rise, which was designed to fund health and social care
○ Commits to scrapping a planned rise in corporation tax - set to increase from 19% to 25% in 2023
○ Wants to create new “low-tax and low-regulation zones” across the country to create hubs for innovation and enterprise
○ Says she won’t cut public spending unless there is a way to do so that won’t lead to future problems
● Defence: Will increase defence spending to 3% by 2030
● Environment: Maintaining the government’s legally binding goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050
○ Would suspend green energy levies
by Connie Kiew