Boris Johnson has suffered more resignations in a single day than any prime minister in history after the Chris Pincher scandal sparked a brutal mass exodus likened to ‘rats fleeing a sinking ship’.
Almost 40 ministers and aides have walked out since Tuesday evening, including two Cabinet ministers, 15 ministers, 17 parliamentary private secretaries, three trade envoys and one vice-chair.
The internet turned to humour to diffuse some of the tension surrounding the government’s ‘slow collapse’.
But it is no laughing matter for Mr Johnson, whose list of firsts also includes being the only sitting prime minister ever found to have broken the law.
More ministers have resigned in one day from Boris Johnson’s premiership than during the entire time his predecessors David Cameron and Gordon Brown’s were in office, according to data from the Institute for Government.
Thirteen ministers quit over the nearly three year period that Gordon Brown was in charge, with the same number resigning during Cameron’s six years in power.
The collapse of the government began with the sensational resignations of Rishi Sunak as Chancellor and Sajid Javid as Health Secretary last night.
The Chris Pincher row was the final straw for the allies who had stood by him during partygate and other sleaze scandals.
Mr Pincher quit as deputy chief whip last week after allegedly assaulting two men while drunk at London’s Carlton Club.
No 10 initially said the prime minister had no prior knowledge about concerns around his behaviour – but a former civil servant cast doubt on that line in a bombshell statement saying the PM was informed about an investigation into Mr Pincher in 2019.
The government later admitted Boris Johnson was told in person about the allegations – but claimed that he forgot about them.
A humiliating apology was unable to prevent the departure of Sunak and Javid, two potential leadership rivals, with both writing incendiary resignation letters.
Today they were followed out the door by 14 junior ministers, including five who resigned in one fell swoop.
Kemi Badenoch, Neil O’Brien, Alex Burghart, Lee Rowley and Julia Lopez signed a joint letter saying they no longer had faith in the prime minister and calling for him to resign.
Employment minister Mims Davies, safeguarding minister Rachel Maclean and equalities minister Mike Freer announced their departures shortly after.
In their resignation letters:
Mr Johnson has vowed to battle on but there is a very real possibility his administration could be over within days.
A number of Boris Johnson’s own cabinet ministers are reportedly set to gather to tell the prime minister his time is up in what could be the final blow to his premiership.
The group is believed to include his brand new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who replaced Rishi Sunak in the top role hours ago.
New education Secretary Michelle Donelan is also involved, as well as the chief whip and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Home Secretary Priti Patel, according to the BBC and Sky News.
It is understand they will deliver the ‘final ultimatum’ to Mr Johnson, saying ‘you go or we do’.
A separate plot to oust Mr Johnson from rebel backbenchers also gathered momentum on Wednesday evening.
Elections to the Tory backbench 1922 Committee Executive will take place on Monday, paving the way for a rule change that could allow a second vote of no confidence (VONC).
Mr Johnson narrowly survived one of these last month, and under current party rules, will not have to face another until next July.
The last vote resulted in 41.2% of his Conservative MPs voting against him.
But a number of MPs who said they voted for the PM at the time have since said they would vote differently if the ballot were held again.
Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, who lost the support of a smaller percentage of MPs than Boris Johnson did in their votes of no confidence back in 1990 and 2019, lasted less than six months in power.
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