# Who wants to be Prime Minister? Resignations in Tory cabinet and Boris Johnson has resigned **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 5, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464 "2022-07-05T17:39:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/41 "2022-07-06T15:59:04Z")
There is apparently a delegation of MPs waiting in Number 10 for the Prime Minister to finish up at the Liaison Committee so tehy can tell him he needs to resign. This includes Cabinet Ministers Grant Shapps, Brandon Lewis and Simon Hart. But what of the new Chancellor of the Exchequer? Nadhim Zahawi accepted the job last night after Sunak resigned so of course - of course! - the guy who’s been in office for less than 24 hours is going to be on the side of Johnson, right? I mean if he weren’t, if he accepted the job from Boris and defended his integrity on broadcast media this morning then told him to quit this evening then he’d look like some sort of colossally ambitious but utterly witless clown. Reports are that… he’s in Number 10 right now. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/42 "2022-07-06T16:06:52Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > Brexit for Boris was the equivalent of Trumps Border Wall. With the key difference that Trump didn’t actually deliver the border wall, and so never had to deal with all of the pesky problems it would have caused. Bloody Stupid should have followed his lead, and just kept promising that Brexit would be done real soon, just two weeks from now, and it was all the Opposition’s fault that it hadn’t happened yet. ---
**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 6, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/43 "2022-07-06T16:13:49Z")
Might’ve worked for awhile… but his many other accumulated missteps might eventually have led us to this moment anyway. ---
**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, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/44 "2022-07-06T16:35:19Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > If Boris loses, will he participate in the subsequent leadership contest? Unless they change that aspect of their rules, he can’t . A vote of no confidence= “Out, now bugger off”. ---
**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, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/45 "2022-07-06T16:37:04Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > then he’d look like some sort of colossally ambitious but utterly witless clown. That’s never stopped many of them before. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/46 "2022-07-06T16:37:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Given that May and Cameron had the same problems? Yes. May and Cameron’s problems WAS Boris Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/47 "2022-07-06T16:45:36Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > The Scottish Independence referendum was also well run and the public were well informed about a difficult constitutional question with lots of economic and political consequences. They were taken seriously. In the UK they were used as a convenient political device to resolve an internal party dispute. You can’t really say that referenda have been “a convenient political device” when for the UK we’ve only ever had 3. Only one of which was a purely domestic issue and the other two were regarding membership of a supranational body. And Scotland _is_ in the UK. It was a valid question to ask, just as the Brexit question was. I cannot see a serious case for thinking one is valid but the other is somehow not. Either you agree with the case for national self-determination or you don’t. Personally I do. But I’m not going to go over that ground again. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/48 "2022-07-06T16:49:04Z")
I think the point was that both were equally valid, but one was well-run and organized while the other wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/49 "2022-07-06T16:52:54Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > I would not be surprised if the next PM came from a immigrant heritage. The current PM comes from an immigrant heritage. Great grandfather was one of the last ministers of the Ottoman Empire, and he himself was born in the USA, as Mr Springstein would say. He’s the only one, unless you count a Canadian one born in the 20s (and I’m unsure of the definition of Britain, and British Empire in that case). ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/50 "2022-07-06T16:54:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think the point was that both were equally valid, but one was well-run and organized while the other wasn’t. Having seen them both first-hand there was no fundamental difference between the two. People like to claim there must have been but that is pretty much always because they like the outcome of one and not the other. But that’ll be my last word as I’m not going to continue the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/51 "2022-07-06T16:56:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > With the key difference that Trump didn’t actually deliver the border wall, and so never had to deal with all of the pesky problems it would have caused Johnson never delivered Brexit (and certainly not the lies promised) since the initial agreement of Northern Ireland protocol has never been fully implemented as of yet, and was just being backed out of. So all he did was say he delivered Brexit, when he absolutely did not. A Johnson promise is simply a lie not yet come true. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/52 "2022-07-06T18:10:42Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > The Scottish Independence referendum was also well run and the public were well informed about a difficult constitutional question with lots of economic and political consequences. They were taken seriously. In the UK they were used as a convenient political device to resolve an internal party dispute. As well, if memory serves, one of the pitches from Westminster to the people of Scotland was that they’d be leaving the security of the EU trading bloc if they went independent, an argument that may have held some sway in the slight majority who voted against it. A couple of years later, the Brexit vote happens, Scotland votes solidly against it yet are stuck with the results. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/53 "2022-07-06T18:24:25Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Johnson never delivered Brexit (and certainly not the lies promised) since the initial agreement of Northern Ireland protocol has never been fully implemented as of yet, and was just being backed out of. That’s not him not delivering Brexit. That’s him trying to dodge the consequences of Brexit, because he and his side spent the whole affair pretending that there were no consequences at all, and so now they’re not about to back down from that. He didn’t deliver what the pro-Brexit voters actually wanted, because what they actually wanted was a unicorn. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/54 "2022-07-06T18:46:02Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > As well, if memory serves, one of the pitches from Westminster to the people of Scotland was that they’d be leaving the security of the EU trading bloc if they went independent, an argument that may have held some sway in the slight majority who voted against it. A couple of years later, the Brexit vote happens, Scotland votes solidly against it yet are stuck with the results. I don’t think Scottish independence would deliver on most of the SNP’s promises, but it’s hard to have anything but sympathy for them having to deal with this bullshit. ---
**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 6, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/55 "2022-07-06T18:54:02Z")
The way the PM answered questions about the Chris Pincher scandal seems to have been the final straw. Johnson repeatedly claimed he was not aware of any allegations of sexual misconduct against Chris Pincher. His ministers were given this party line to repeat by the Prime Ministers Press Office when answering questions about the latest incident and Pincher’s subsequent resignation. Many ministers looking very uncomfortable about this because the Pincher was well known for a long line of incidents. He was a well known sex pest that the Prime Minister seemed to go to some lengths to protect and promote. ```auto Tuesday 7.30am In a dynamite letter Sir Simon McDonald, a former top mandarin, says Boris Johnson was briefed in person on alleged wrongdoing by Tory Chris Pincher after the 2019 probe. "I have written to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards - because No 10 keep changing their story and are still not telling the truth," the respected peer blasts. “They need to come clean. The language is ambiguous. It’s sort of telling the truth and crossing your fingers at the same time.” ``` This leads to some back tracking and and an attempt to deflect responsibility to an appointments committee and finally Johnson admits that he ‘forgot’ that he had been briefed about allegations…on a least two occasions. This seems to be the final straw for some senior ministers. Telling lies for you boss is distasteful obligation of you are to pursue a political career, but when they start changing their story and you are expected to explain the contradictions in political interviews on national TV, it becomes impossible. Johnson was not good at lying and he expected his cabinet to defend his lies with all the political interviewing skills they could manage. It was finally too much. They risked being tarred with the same brush that would have a bearing on their future career prospects. The resignation letters mainly give reasons connected with poor standards, the lack of integrity and good governance of the Conservative party under the Johnson administration. These senior ministers have support bases within the party and they will be encouraging them to protest. The remaining ministers in his cabinet with be rewarded with jobs for their supporters if they remain loyal to Johnson. Those that waver will lose influence for their faction the round of appointments. Johnson still has cards to play. There will be bribes and threats. He could threaten to call a General Election. If it did that and the Conservative party lost, then all of those careers and many of the seats in Parliament would be lost. Labour are bullish about this, but they are equally unprepared for that. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/56 "2022-07-06T19:25:19Z")
[BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-62048657): > [@](#): > > A record 14 ministers resign in one day > > Our political research unit says a record 14 ministers have resigned in a single day today, more than have ever quit in a single day before. > > The previous record was 11 ministers in 1932. > [@](#): > > Boris Johnson refuses to quit > > We’re hearing that the PM has refused to quit despite calls from several key cabinet colleagues. He is insisting that he wants to continue to focus on the “hugely important issues facing the country”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/57 "2022-07-06T20:18:53Z")
From North America, it looks to me as if Boris Johnson is immune to any pressure from norms, conventions, or peers, and will never resign for any reason. It also looks to me as if the rest of British politics does not quite grasp that, and is just doing what they usually do in such circumstances, but more so. Am I misreading? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/58 "2022-07-06T20:30:54Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > From North America, it looks to me as if Boris Johnson is immune to any pressure from norms, conventions, or peers, and will never resign for any reason. It also looks to me as if the rest of British politics does not quite grasp that, and is just doing what they usually do in such circumstances, but more so. It won’t last, he can’t continue if the party don’t want him to. The 1922 committee are free to redraft the rules about votes of confidence and if they do then out he goes. The fact that have pointedly not done so…yet, is to give him chance to go of his own accord. If he hasn’t by tomorrow then expect them to move quickly. Rule change, new vote of confidence and out the door in quick succession. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/59 "2022-07-06T20:41:54Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > But let us not get ahead of ourselves. The spectacle of the Conservatives trying to winkle Boris out of 10 Downing St as he clings onto the trappings of high office like a demented mollusc is upon us. There will be drama. With trump on the outs (may he stay that way), and Boris “trump-lite” Johnson on the way out, maybe this weird spate of Populism is on it’s way out. (Populism is not what it sounds like- it is kinda “fascism-lite” with a more or less sham democracy still around. Boris, trump, Modi, Borisov, Netanyahu (out), Ortega, Bolsonaro , etc. You see what they have in common,- appeal to “the common man”, bigotry, etc. ) > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Right, as opposed to the absolute certainty and complete lack of ambiguity under the written US Constitution after the 2020 presidential election. There was no uncertainly or ambiguity. Just a con man claiming there was to rake in millions from his followers. > [@filmstar-en](#): > > The Brexit vote was a farce. It was run over a few weeks like a general election campaign and few voters had a grasp of the issues. Boris ran a leave campaign after concluding it was amenable to his populist rhetoric. Its purpose was to get him into power on the promise he would ‘Get Brexit Done’. This was populism in action. Emotional slogans from a personality politician who would assertively deliver simple solutions to complex and difficult problems. Brexit for Boris was the equivalent of Trumps Border Wall. Exactly. Both the border wall and Brexit was based upon an appeal to fear and bigotry, altho true, Brexit did have some real economic issues. (and to be fair, the wall would help with drug interdiction… a little) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464/60 "2022-07-06T22:17:21Z")
> **[Michael Gove sacked ‘for disloyalty’: allies reveal how it happened](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/06/michael-gove-sacked-for-disloyalty-allies-reveal-how-it-happened)** > > Levelling up secretary fired several hours after urging Boris Johnson to vacate No 10 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-be-prime-minister-resignations-in-tory-cabinet-and-boris-johnson-has-resigned/967464.md?page=4)