Boris Johnson was already in deep trouble before he stood up for prime minister’s questions at midday on Wednesday; by the time it was over, everyone at Westminster knew he was finished. For more than half an hour, Johnson deployed all his old routines as he shifted from contrition to defiance, bombast and partisan jeering at the opposition.
“The job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances, when he has been handed a colossal mandate, is to keep going, and that is what I am going to do,” Johnson said.It seems to be a question of when, not if, for UK prime minister Boris Johnson, whose mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations against an MP has turned his party against him. But how can the party get rid of the stubborn PM? Denis Staunton reports.
Outside the chamber, the prime minister’s power was draining away as one after another dozens of MPs resigned from the government while at the dispatch box his authority was evaporating before our eyes. Labour leader Keir Starmer, who has seldom been on such good form for a big parliamentary event, poured scorn on Johnson and his remaining ministers.
It was Sajid Javid, who resigned as health secretary on Tuesday, who twisted the knife in a personal statement after prime minister’s questions. He said he wished his former colleagues well in their decision to remain in government but warned them about the consequences of their decision.