# Will Boris Johnson resign? (Has resigned, June 9, 2023) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 25, 2022, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388 "2022-01-25T23:30:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/81 "2022-02-09T15:32:15Z")
And… it’s about time we had another leak: > **[Metropolitan Police to review No 10 quiz decision after Boris Johnson photo leak](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60319602)** > > The Met reviews its decision not to investigate the December 2020 gathering after photo of PM emerges. > **A photo has been published showing Boris Johnson stood next to a bottle of bubbly at what appears to be a Christmas event in Downing Street.** … > > …At the time, No 10 said the PM only “briefly took part virtually” to thank staff for their work during the pandemic… > > …At the time of the event, London was under Tier Two restrictions, which banned mixing of households indoors - apart from support bubbles - and allowed a maximum of six people to meet outside. > > Official guidance said: “Although there are exemptions for work purposes, you must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier.” An opinion: the fact that these things are leaking all the time doesn’t just tell you that the rules were being ignored; it also tells you that someone has it in for Johnson (or several people have it in for him). And they’re doing a pretty good job. j ---
**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:** [February 9, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/82 "2022-02-09T17:39:35Z")
> it also tells you that someone has it in for Johnson (or several people have it in for him) Dominic Cummings is overtly out to unseat him. That’s no secret. Whether he already had all these photos off his own bat, or is getting them from other disgruntled insiders, less so: but releasing them in a steady trickle is all part of his cunning plan (did I read somewhere that he has explicitly said so?). BJ and a bottle of champagne? Obviously he thought that’s what was meant by support bubbles. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/83 "2022-02-09T21:36:16Z")
Yeah, I should have made it clear that I was referring to “an inside job”. Sorry, all. Moving on - more fun: > **[Police to email 50 people in Downing Street party inquiry](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60327143)** > > Boris and Carrie Johnson are among those expected to be sent a questionnaire by the Met Police. - ie anyone found to be answering untruthfully will be in big doo-doo. > A questionnaire will be sent to people alleged to have been at any of eight events between May 2020 and April 2021. > > It will ask for their account of what happened and “must be answered truthfully,” the Met said. > > The document will hold legal status and must be answered in seven days, the force said. Met = Metropolitan Police j ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/84 "2022-02-10T12:05:48Z")
John Major’s been sticking the boot in today > **[Johnson broke law over No 10 parties, says ex-PM Sir John Major](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-60331189)** > > The accusation comes as the Met Police is still investigating No 10 gatherings during lockdowns. > "The prime minister and our present government not only challenge the law, but also seem to believe that they, and they alone, need not obey the rules, traditions, conventions - call them what you will - of public life. > > "The charge that there is one law for the government, and one for everyone else is politically deadly - and it has struck home. > > When ministers respond to legitimate questions with pre-prepared sound bites, or half-truths, or misdirection, or wild exaggeration, then respect for government and politics dies a little more." ---
**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:** [February 12, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/85 "2022-02-12T15:16:35Z")
As the police send BJ their questionnaire\* about the parties, others are - quietly but transparently -“on manoeuvres” (as the jargon has it): [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/11/boris-johnsons-would-be-successors-quietly-prepare-their-bids](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/11/boris-johnsons-would-be-successors-quietly-prepare-their-bids) \*the paper-based equivalent of “helping with their enquiries” ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/86 "2022-02-22T04:26:29Z")
Question for those in the know (i.e. not me): Will the mess in Ukraine help Boris hang on a little longer? It pushes the scandal off the front pages, and an international crisis is a time to come together and not a time to change leaders. So my naive view is that he’s safe so long as the crisis is ongoing, and if it goes on long enough may allow him to discount his old errors as being “old news”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/87 "2022-02-22T04:28:51Z")
@Novelty_Bobble This is the politics I was talking about in the COVID thread. I do suspect that part of the reason for the actions of the UK is to distract from the issue with Johnson flouting COVID rules. ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/88 "2022-02-22T10:27:51Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Will the mess in Ukraine help Boris hang on a little longer? It pushes the scandal off the front pages, and an international crisis is a time to come together and not a time to change leaders. So my naive view is that he’s safe so long as the crisis is ongoing, and if it goes on long enough may allow him to discount his old errors as being “old news”. Boris has been waiting for his Winston Churchill moment all his life. Sadly BJ only emulates WC’s less appealing qualities. This could be a disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Casparlatete](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/casparlatete/32/3377_2.png) [@Casparlatete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casparlatete)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/89 "2022-02-22T11:03:56Z")
Boris, Biden & Macron are all looking domestically threatened and are attempting to appear tough and show resolve for their home electorates. What gives any of them the right to threaten Putin? particularly Biden from the comfort of six thousand miles distance between him in The White House, and the Ukraine/Russian border? … and yes, Boris should go, but for many other reasons as well ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/90 "2022-02-22T16:04:08Z")
> [@Casparlatete](#): > > What gives any of them the right to threaten Putin? Nobody’s threatening Putin. They’re telling him they won’t do business with him or his country. And if he literally invades a NATO country they will defend themselves. Not sure if that’s really such a terrible threat to Putin, nor is it particularly unreasonable. Putin runs Russia like a mafia boss, if someone were to actually threaten Putin in such a way as to cut him down a peg, they would be doing the Russian people a big favour - though only a few Russians seem to understand that thanks to his grip on Russian media. If the West had been acting ethically they would have stopped doing any business with Russia years ago, but self-interest and economics prevail. ---
**Author:** ![Casparlatete](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/casparlatete/32/3377_2.png) [@Casparlatete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casparlatete)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/91 "2022-02-22T16:43:39Z")
With the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 Russia (USSR) made an orderly withdrawal from the DDR on the promise that NATO would not advance any further towards its borders, but NATO led by the US has reneged on those promises and wishes to put Ukraine under the aegis of NATO, thereby bringing the Western influence and armour right to the frontier of Russia; what would you do? All that is necessary is to stick to those original promises, it is the West that is the provocateur, not Putin. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/92 "2022-02-22T17:05:39Z")
Nonsense, it was Russia who started the problem with the annexation of Crimea in 2014: > **[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > >  Russian Federation >  Ukraine And Fiendish\_Astronaut Ukraine is not a member of NATO even though the Ukraine has applied: > **[Ukraine–NATO relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine%E2%80%93NATO_relations)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) started in 1991. Ukraine applied to integrate with a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) in 2008. Plans for NATO membership were shelved by Ukraine following the 2010 presidential election in which Viktor Yanukovych, who preferred to keep the country non-aligned, was elected President. Amid the unrest, caused by the Euromaidan protests, Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February ... ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/93 "2022-02-22T17:20:02Z")
Perhaps you would like to join the discussion regarding the Ukraine invasion (or perhaps you would prefer the term liberation) in the following thread > [@Russia may be about to invade Ukraine. {Russia has invaded as of Feb 24-2022}](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-may-be-about-to-invade-ukraine/939699/753): > > Putin doesn’t give a shit about declaring war on the US? Because that’s what an invasion of a NATO member would entail. Putin may be a thug, but he’s not suicidal. And if Putin is somehow convinced that all the West will do is scold him, hold meetings, and tell him he’s a meanie? Putin is not afraid to kill people and break things. The West is far more reluctant to go to war than he is. He will continue to take and take until he is stopped. The longer the West waits the more expensive t… So that this thread doesn’t get side tracked from issues specifically regarding Boris Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/94 "2022-02-22T22:01:56Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > And Fiendish\_Astronaut Ukraine is not a member of NATO even though the Ukraine has applied: I know. I was referring to those other countries that are NATO members. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/95 "2022-02-22T22:05:46Z")
Vlad is only breaking international law in a very specific and limited way. So Bozo can’t really complain. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/96 "2022-02-23T16:28:44Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Will the mess in Ukraine help Boris hang on a little longer? Yes. It pushes the parties scandal into the back pages and offers Johnson the opportunity to take positive actions. It certainly helped him before Putin declared Russian supported provinces of Ukraine as independent states. The sanctions Johnsons announced since then have been equated to peashooters. But they could also be equated to “keeping your powder dry”. I think there’s an overall populist UK wish for the UK to oppose Russia, and certainly support for Ukraine independence. Johnson’s support for those goals will be popular, and as long as he backs those goals, it will be harder for opponents to remove him from the office of Prime Minister. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/97 "2022-02-23T21:57:44Z")
Russian money has been buying influence in the Conservative party for many years. There unlikely to be any sanctions against that. > **[Liz Truss Denies Huge Donations To Tory Party From Russia Are 'Damaging'](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/russian-donors-conservative-party-liz-truss-sanctions_uk_6215f2e5e4b03d0c8030ce8b)** > > The foreign secretary said she was not "embarrassed" about being pictured with Russian donors either. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/98 "2022-02-26T18:10:13Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > Russian money has been buying influence in the Conservative party for many years. There unlikely to be any sanctions against that. Actually Johnson has been advocating strong sanctions against Russia and its oligarchs. > **[Ukraine invasion: Boris Johnson unleashes UK's 'largest set of sanctions...](https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-invasion-boris-johnson-announces-tough-new-sanctions-against-russia-12550413)** > > In a televised address to the nation earlier on Thursday, Boris Johnson said Vladimir Putin has "unleashed war in our European continent" with a "hideous and barbaric venture" in Ukraine. He vowed Moscow will be hit with a "massive" package of... ---
**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:** [February 26, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/99 "2022-02-26T18:44:09Z")
Just because you buy a politician, that doesn’t mean they stay bought. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388/100 "2022-02-26T22:51:25Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > But removing a PM who doesn’t want to go is likely to be a messy and difficult process, and there’s a major risk that the public battle will get stink all over the party, which would be very bad going into May. > [@Cervaise](#): > > I think they’re waiting till May to see whether this is true Sorry, I’ve obviously missed something. What is the significance of something in May? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-boris-johnson-resign-has-resigned-june-9-2023/958388.md?page=6)