# Prime Minister Boris Johnson tries to lead the UK but has resigned on July 7, 2022 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 30, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872 "2019-07-30T14:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 68
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1342 "2022-07-01T08:34:34Z")
It seems as though governing is the curse of the drinking class. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1343 "2022-07-03T05:54:39Z")
The way these stories keep trickling out, anyone would think someone had it in for him: > **[\#BloJo trends as MP walked in on Johnson and Symonds in ‘compromising...](https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/blojo-trends-as-mp-walked-in-on-johnson-and-symonds-in-compromising-situation-328174/)** > > Johnson was trying to appoint Carrie as his £100,000-a-year Foreign Office chief of staff until it was claimed he was caught during sex act. _This is the way a government_ ends - \* _Not with a bang, but…_ \*Especially Tory ones ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1344 "2022-07-03T10:12:06Z")
There is nothing the British press like more than stories about politicians caught with their trousers down. Boris Johnson’s administration is certainly generating a stream of stories about sleezey behaviour. The question is how long the grass roots of the party will tolerate this. They will be bending the ears of their MPs, for sure. But sex scandals are easier to brush off these days. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1345 "2022-07-03T12:48:20Z")
In this case it’s not so much the hanky-panky (though the precise circumstances might be relevant) as the fact that he was actively trying to get her into a lucrative high-level job in his department at the time (and he has form on favours for women friends from his days as Mayor of London). Likewise, there are questions as to Johnson’s judgement in appointing as Deputy Chief Whip a man who’d already resigned from the whips’ office once before after complaints about his groping young staffers. But he’d since made himself busy organising support for Johnson in the confidence vote. Jobs for the boys and girls, the “chumocracy”, could be more damning in itself. If there are any spines left in the party. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1346 "2022-07-03T13:12:13Z")
And the guy who can’t keep his hands to himself is named _Pincher?_ Holy Anthony Weiner, Batman! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1347 "2022-07-04T09:23:43Z")
Johnson and his government have been busy lately, and not in a good way. I highly recommend the latest The Week In Tory thread from Russ Jones, both to cover the dumpster fire that is this Government and also for his entertaining descriptions of certain individuals. > **[Thread by @RussInCheshire on Thread Reader App](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1542874537708101632.html)** > > @RussInCheshire: Because I was busy last week, this episode of #TheWeekInTory covers more than 7 days, but not – you’ll be amazed to hear – the 700 years it would take most govts to get through... > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > And the guy who can’t keep his hands to himself is named _Pincher?_ Holy Anthony Weiner, Batman! To quote from the thread I cited above: > [@](#): > > So to summarise: Johnson got in trouble with his Johnson. Pincher got in trouble for pinching. Fabricant fabricated. Bottomley reached rock bottom. And James Cleverly … well, he remains the exception to the rule. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1348 "2022-07-04T12:05:52Z")
I relish Marina Hyde’s regular sarcasms at their expense: > **[In this government by Grand Designs, Johnson has spaffed the budget and the...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/28/boris-johnson-treehouse-free-school-meals-ukraine)** > > The PM touting for a £150k treehouse while voting against free school meals makes the MPs’ expenses scandal look like a halcyon era, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1349 "2022-07-04T14:46:11Z")
My new British slang word of the day: “spaffed.” I like it! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1350 "2022-07-05T06:44:16Z")
You have checked its [customary usage](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=spaffed)? Also, Marina Hyde was echoing Johnson’s own [metaphorical use of it in his usual charming way](https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/boris-johnson-slammed-for-saying-money-spent-investigating-historical-child-sex-abuse-is-being-spaffed-up-the-wall) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1351 "2022-07-05T14:35:35Z")
Maybe not “customary,” from what I found elsewhere on the Web, but I understand that usage, too. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1352 "2022-07-05T16:49:43Z")
From twitter today, kind of sums up exactly how ludicrous the UK government currently is. “I agree with Porn Man. The Blowjob man should remove the whip from Groping man”. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1353 "2022-07-05T17:28:59Z")
[Boris Johnson latest: Johnson sacks Gove after cabinet ministers pile pressure on PM - BBC News](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-62048657) Sunak and Javid have both resigned from the cabinet. It can’t be long now… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1354 "2022-07-05T17:44:25Z")
Sunak is jumping ship and preparing to position himself as successor. He must perceive the downfall is imminent. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1355 "2022-07-05T17:53:38Z")
Two heavyweight allies like Sunak and Javid turning would be prety much a deathblow to any PM, though you have to factor in that BoJo is slipperier than an oiled-up eel selling timeshares. Still I think it is most likely a case of when not if. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1356 "2022-07-05T18:18:35Z")
Barnacle Boris needs to be dragged out and strung up by the heels and shot, it seems the only way he’ll go. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1357 "2022-07-05T18:20:25Z")
Bad news indeed for Boris, but he’s nothing if not tenacious in hanging onto office. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1358 "2022-07-05T18:21:02Z")
Nadine Dorries says she is not resigning until the cricket finishes at Brands Hatch. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1359 "2022-07-05T18:26:51Z")
My vote for thread winner! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1360 "2022-07-06T13:01:15Z")
There’s a new thread in P&E that seems to fit better the trend of this thread: > [@Who wants to be Prime Minister? Resignations in Tory cabinet and Boris Johnson has resigned](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet/967464/): > > Two huge resignations in Boris Johnson’s cabinet around 6 PM London time today. Let’s start with the Chancellor of the Exchequer: Let’s add the Secretary of State for Health: There will be a Tory leadership election soon, there is no way Boris Johnson survives this. The interesting question is how soon we can see a U.K. general election. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872/1361 "2022-07-06T13:28:53Z")
It’s not so much slipperiness as having absolutely no shame (like Trump). The point at which most people would realise they need to go simply will never come. He will go when there is no other course physically open to him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prime-minister-boris-johnson-tries-to-lead-the-uk-but-has-resigned-on-july-7-2022/837872.md?page=69)