VideoThe British Prime Minister vowed to continue fighting as he faced calls for resignation following recent scandals and the resignation of several government officials. Credit Credit … Justin Tallis / Agence France-Presse – Getty Images
LONDON – Support collapses, government in disarray, alibis exhausted, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson frantically tried to save his position on Wednesday, even as a delegation of cabinet colleagues traveled to Downing Street to beg his leader marked by scandal to come down.
More than 30 ministers or government aides resigned, several Conservative lawmakers urged Mr. Johnson resigned and received a thunderous welcome in Parliament, where MPs in the back scoffed, “Goodbye, Boris!” as he walked through a side door after a ruthless grid over his handling of the party’s latest sex and sexual harassment scandal.
On a day of rapid developments, Mr. Johnson vowed to continue fighting, insisting he had a voter mandate to guide the UK towards its post-Brexit future, even when rebel cabinet ministers try to oust him. But elsewhere in Westminster, lawmakers weighed in, and then postponed, for at least a few days, a change in party rules that would allow another vote of confidence, possibly next week, against the prime minister, who survived such a vote just a month ago.
There was a growing consensus that although events unfolded over the next few hours or days, the curtain was falling on the Boris Johnson era. Less than three years after entering Downing Street, before riding a wave of pro-Brexit passion to win a landslide election victory, Mr. Johnson seemed cornered: a protein political player finally motionless.
This is not to say that the end will come quickly or gracefully. Mr. Johnson resisted calls from the cabinet delegation to resign. He has not ruled out calling early elections to throw his fate at British voters. This measure would require the consent of Queen Elizabeth II, which could precipitate a political crisis.
“The job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances, when he has been given a colossal term, is to move on,” Johnson told Parliament, with a grim face, rejecting another call for his resignation.
Despite all the drama in Parliament, the actual action on Wednesday took place out of sight, where the band of supporters of Mr. Johnson, growing older, maneuvered. One of his key allies, Michael Gove, told the prime minister at a private meeting that the time had come for Mr. Johnson left. On Wednesday, the BBC reported that Mr Johnson had fired Mr. Gove.
On Wednesday, British Attorney General Suella Braverman asked that Mr. Johnson resigned and said he would run in the election to replace him if he did. “If there’s a leadership contest, I’ll put my name in the ring,” he told ITV.
The final chapter of the crisis began on Tuesday when two senior ministers abruptly resigned: Finance Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid. The trigger was the management by Mr. Johnson of a case involving Chris Pincher, a Conservative lawmaker who admitted to being drunk at a private club in London where members were said to have palpated two men.
His outings opened a rebellion against Mr Johnson within his party that has been building against him for months, fueled by a stream of embarrassing reports of social gatherings on Downing Street that violated the blockade rules of government coronavirus.
Given the speed with which the government of Mr. Johnson is disarticulating, many Conservative lawmakers believe Mr. Johnson needs to be replaced quickly to mitigate electoral damage to the party.
Opposition leader Keir Starmer outraged Mr. Johnson and cabinet ministers who have not yet left the prime minister after a seemingly endless stream of scandals.
“Anyone who resigns now, after defending all this, doesn’t have a shred of integrity,” Mr. Starmer, the leader of the Labor Party, looking badly through a table at Mr. Johnson. “Isn’t this the first recorded case of the ship sinking fleeing rats?”
– Mark Landler and Stephen Castle