It is a coup de theater testifying to their weariness in the face of repeated scandals shaking the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announced his resignation on Tuesday July 5, a few minutes after that of Health Minister Sajid Javid.
“The public rightfully expects the government to be conducted in a competent and serious manner,” Rishi Sunak, 42, said in a resignation letter posted on Twitter.
For his part, the British Minister of Health Sajid Javid, 52, announced his resignation on Tuesday, explaining that he no longer had confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In his resignation letter, also posted on Twitter, he said it “is clear to me that the situation is not going to change under your leadership – and therefore you have lost my trust”.
These resignations come in the wake of a new scandal involving Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government: the resignation of Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher, in charge of parliamentary discipline for Conservative MPs, accused of sexual touching by several men.
Chris Pincher, a close friend of Boris Johnson, had admitted last week to having “drank too much” and having “covered himself in shame, (him) and other people” in a private club. He had to resign from his post but remained a deputy.
Downing Street’s evolving response to this new crisis had been the subject of much criticism. The Prime Minister’s Office first announced that Boris Johnson was unaware of older allegations against Chris Pincher when he appointed him to the post last February. But further revelations showed he knew as far back as 2019, when he was foreign secretary, and on Tuesday Boris Johnson finally said Chris Pincher’s appointment “was a mistake” and issued an apology.
This new scandal was apparently one scandal too many for the two ministers, when on June 6, 2022, Boris Johnson narrowly survived a vote of no confidence from Conservative MPs, more than 40% of whom voted against him.
