On Tuesday afternoon, after days in which Downing Street was on the ropes over its handling of allegations of sexual harassment by a member of the government, two senior cabinet ministers resigned. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he could not “in good conscience” continue. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak also resigned, saying people “rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously”. The immediate cause of the crisis was the fallout from the resignation last Thursday of deputy chief Chris Pincher amid allegations he had molested two guests at a private dinner the night before. Although he did not directly admit to the charges, Pincher said in a letter to Johnson that “last night I drank too much” and “embarrassed myself and other people.” What got Johnson into deeper trouble, however, were the distortions Downing Street press officers made in trying to explain why Pincher was ever in government in the first place amid a wave of revelations about his past behaviour. On Tuesday, a senior former civil servant published a letter effectively accusing Downing Street of lying when it said the prime minister was unaware of at least one of the historic allegations. in an attempt to draw a line under the heated controversy, Johnson issued a statement in which he apologized and said he was wrong to reassign Pincher to the whip’s office — which, ironically, is responsible for discipline of the party — earlier this year. But this was overcome within minutes by the resignation of the two Cabinet members. Details of how Downing Street got into such a mess. At first, when new reports of Pincher’s historic behavior emerged in light of his resignation, Downing Street initially denied that the Prime Minister knew anything about the allegations. When it became clear that would not be the case, Johnson’s team said they were aware of the historical allegations but that they had been “resolved”. When it was revealed that one of the previously unreported allegations against Pincher had been upheld, Johnson’s spokesman explained that “resolved” could mean it had been upheld. Then on Tuesday morning, Simon McDonald, the former senior civil servant at the Foreign Office revealed that Johnson had been personally briefed on the outcome of an inquiry into Pincher’s conduct. Whatever justification Downing Street tried to provide, Johnson’s judgment — and his handling of this latest crisis — is now in serious doubt. A common theme in the plethora of scandals surrounding him — from “Partygate,” when Johnson was fined by police for breaking lockdown rules, to his efforts to protect an MP who had broken lobbying rules — is the way the government mishandled the fallout from the original problem. “The biggest threat to this government is its own stunning incompetence,” said a senior government official. “Discipline has completely broken down.” “The team around the Prime Minister seem to have no idea how bad it is,” they added. “Nobody’s good at giving interviews. We can’t stick to one line. We’ve completely lost control.” A government minister told CNN they believe a key problem is that Johnson is setting the tone for behavior. “It’s hard for someone with a personal life as colorful as his to reprimand people for inappropriate behavior,” they said. The growing sense of chaos — and the view that the government has lost control of yet another story — is doing nothing for Conservatives who believe Johnson has become the party’s biggest electoral aberration. Both the Prime Minister’s personal approval ratings and the party’s opinion polls have plummeted since the Partygate scandal. Confidence in Johnson as a leader seems to be crumbling with both the public and his own MPs. Conservative Party lawmakers tried — and failed — to oust him last month. But Conservative MPs are beginning to lose hope that even if Johnson is removed from power, it will not be possible to undo the damage he has done to the party before the next scheduled election in 2024. Even more worryingly for those who have lost faith in the prime minister, he seems determined to fight. This worries Conservative MPs, especially those in marginal seats who have little hope of keeping them. Few of them believe Johnson really has any control over how bad things have become — and they can’t see a way to make the Prime Minister see sense. The government’s mishandling of Pincher’s resignation means the scandal is now linked to Johnson personally. He was the one who chose to appoint Pincher to a top government position — even though he knew how serious the charges against him were, and even though he knew a complaint against him had been upheld. For years, Johnson’s main selling point was his ability to connect with voters, personally. His optimistic populism was – as Tory MPs believed – the force of nature that had made the majority of the British public vote for Brexit in 2016 and given the Tories a parliamentary majority of 80 in 2019. But as Johnson’s government lurches from one crisis to another, his MPs now fear they are learning the hard way just what happens when a populist loses popularity.
