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“Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk,” Johnson said in a statement that sounded like a leadership pitch. A national election must be held by the end of 2024. Opinion polls regularly put the opposition Labour Party 20 points or more ahead. It was highly critical of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who served as Treasury chief in Johnson’s government before jumping ship with many other colleagues in July 2022 - resignations that forced Johnson out as prime minister.Ĭonservative poll ratings went into decline during the turbulent final months of Johnson’s term and have not recovered. His resignation statement suggested he was mulling that option. But he became mired in scandals over his ethics and judgment, and was forced out as prime minister by his own party in mid-2022.īy quitting Parliament, he avoids a suspension that could have seen him ousted from his Commons seat by his constituents, leaving him free to run for Parliament again in future. Johnson was among scores of people fined by police over late-night soirees, boozy parties and “wine time Fridays” that broke restrictions the government had imposed on the country.Ī champion of Brexit, Johnson led the Conservatives to a landslide victory in 2019 and took Britain out of the EU the following year. Johnson quit after being told he will be sanctioned for misleading Parliament over “partygate,” a series of rule-breaking gatherings in the prime minister’s office during the coronavirus pandemic. Less than a year after he was forced out as prime minister by his own Conservative Party, Johnson unexpectedly stepped down as a lawmaker late Friday - “at least for now,” he said in a self-justifying resignation statement. Two Johnson allies joined him in quitting the House of Commons, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Prime Minister Boris Johnson left chaos in his wake Saturday after quitting Parliament with a blast at fellow lawmakers he accused of ousting him in a “witch hunt.”Īs opponents jeered, the Conservative government absorbed the shock of yet another Johnson earthquake, while a band of loyal supporters insisted Britain’s divisive ex-leader could still make a comeback.
