Among the team visiting Johnson at No. 10 Downing Street on Wednesday night is Nahim Zahawi, who was appointed to the top finance role on Tuesday following the dramatic resignation of his predecessor. Johnson’s government has been hit by two days of highly damaging resignations and months of questions about his leadership of the Conservative Party. Welsh Minister Simon Hart, Northern Ireland Transport Secretary Brandon Lewis and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps – a long-time Johnson loyalist – are also part of the group speaking to Johnson in No 10 and urging him to resign, according to three officials close to the cabinet. There were reports that Michelle Donelan, the newly appointed education secretary, is also part of the delegation. A government official confirmed this report. Meanwhile, The Times reported that Home Secretary Priti Patel, formerly a staunch defender of Johnson and one of his most senior ministers, had spoken to the Tory leader and sided with those urging him to leave. Despite facing more than 30 government resignations – including the departure of top Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid within minutes of each other – over the course of a day, the UK prime minister defiantly on Wednesday that he “will continue.” Pressed after reports that the delegation of senior ministers expected to take their move a little further, Johnson told the House of Commons liaison committee that he would not be commenting on political events. Instead, he rejected calls to take the country to a general election and told senior Tory MP Bernard Jenkin: “Instead, what we need is a stable government, to love each other as Conservatives, to get on with our priorities.” In the latest developments on Wednesday:
The prime minister told MPs it would not be “responsible” to simply “walk off” the job – but did not deny senior minister Michael Gove had also told him to quit. The stream of ministers who quit continued, including Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch, Finance Minister John Glen, Schools Minister Robin Walker and Environment Minister Jo Churchill. More than 30 government officials have now resigned from Johnson’s government in the last 24 hours. Javid, the former health secretary, attacked Johnson’s integrity and record in office in his resignation statement in the House of Commons. He warned colleagues still serving in Johnson’s cabinet that doing nothing was still “an active decision.”
Johnson’s government has been in crisis mode for months, first fending off criticism of the party’s blighting of the coronavirus lockdown, which featured key figures at the top of British politics, including Johnson himself, and later the handling by Johnson of allegations of abusive behavior by conservative MPs. Unless he bows to cabinet pressure, however, there is no immediate mechanism to remove Johnson. The Assembly dictates that a prime minister step down voluntarily when he loses the confidence of his party, but is under no obligation to do so. Johnson narrowly survived a confidence vote in his leadership in June and under current Conservative Party rules, is immune from another challenge until 12 months have passed. The 1922 committee of Tory supporters – which oversees the party’s rules – on Wednesday chose not to scrap that rule and trigger an earlier vote of confidence. The committee was worried that No. 10 would accuse them of not having the mandate to do so — but it could be a temporary reprieve. The Tory group is planning an election for its 18-member governing body on Monday and the new body will be able to change the rules if it wishes. Conservative MP Pauline Latham summed up the mood of many of her Tory colleagues as Johnson dug in on Wednesday night. “It makes you wonder what his mentality is,” he told Sky News. “Because it’s like a wounded animal that’s desperately trying to stop being killed, it actually needs to move across and make room for someone new who can run the country properly with a moral compass.” Andrew McDonald contributed reporting.
