Suddenly the scale of the crisis afflicting Boris Johnson’s administration is overwhelmingly apparent. The joint resignations of the Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid have punched a hole in the heart of the Cabinet that will be impossible to repair, assuming the Prime Minister even tries.
The last few months have sapped the strength of the Government at a time when it needs to be focusing on the gravest economic situation facing the country in years. Internationally, the Ukraine conflict is always at risk of spilling into a wider European war. Here Mr Johnson has performed commendably, leading the western response and earning the gratitude of the Ukrainian people for his stand.
But the scandals that have dogged his administration and him personally have damaged the party – witness four calamitous by-election defeats – and the public’s trust in government. The Chris Pincher debacle is the final straw for many not because Mr Johnson gave the benefit of the doubt to an ally and a friend but because No 10 seemingly tried to cover up what he knew and when. There is a distinct bathos to the idea that the final curtain could be brought down by the resignation of the former deputy chief whip for drunkenly groping two men at the Carlton Club.
Mr Johnson is nothing if not a fighter and may try to dig in and recast his top team, though who would want to join it at the moment is anyone’s guess. Today, he faces Prime Minister’s questions in the Commons and then is due to appear before a committee of senior MPs for a long-standing session attended by some of his fiercest critics in his own party. Neither promises to be an easy affair should he feel emboldened to carry on.
Given the accusations levelled at Mr Johnson by his erstwhile Cabinet colleagues, he can no longer dismiss the criticism as opposition whingeing or the views of well-known detractors. Mr Javid said the country needed a “strong and principled Conservative Party, and the Party is bigger than one individual”. Mr Sunak said the country expected government to be conducted “competently and seriously”, virtues he believed were absent.
These are serious allegations from serious people. This is an existential crisis not just for Mr Johnson but for the Government and the Conservatives. For the good of the party and the country it needs to be resolved.
Suddenly the scale of the crisis afflicting Boris Johnson’s administration is overwhelmingly apparent. The joint resignations of the Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid have punched a hole in the heart of the Cabinet that will be impossible to repair, assuming the Prime Minister even tries.
The last few months have sapped the strength of the Government at a time when it needs to be focusing on the gravest economic situation facing the country in years. Internationally, the Ukraine conflict is always at risk of spilling into a wider European war. Here Mr Johnson has performed commendably, leading the western response and earning the gratitude of the Ukrainian people for his stand.
But the scandals that have dogged his administration and him personally have damaged the party – witness four calamitous by-election defeats – and the public’s trust in government. The Chris Pincher debacle is the final straw for many not because Mr Johnson gave the benefit of the doubt to an ally and a friend but because No 10 seemingly tried to cover up what he knew and when. There is a distinct bathos to the idea that the final curtain could be brought down by the resignation of the former deputy chief whip for drunkenly groping two men at the Carlton Club.
Mr Johnson is nothing if not a fighter and may try to dig in and recast his top team, though who would want to join it at the moment is anyone’s guess. Today, he faces Prime Minister’s questions in the Commons and then is due to appear before a committee of senior MPs for a long-standing session attended by some of his fiercest critics in his own party. Neither promises to be an easy affair should he feel emboldened to carry on.
Given the accusations levelled at Mr Johnson by his erstwhile Cabinet colleagues, he can no longer dismiss the criticism as opposition whingeing or the views of well-known detractors. Mr Javid said the country needed a “strong and principled Conservative Party, and the Party is bigger than one individual”. Mr Sunak said the country expected government to be conducted “competently and seriously”, virtues he believed were absent.
These are serious allegations from serious people. This is an existential crisis not just for Mr Johnson but for the Government and the Conservatives. For the good of the party and the country it needs to be resolved.