Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson has quit as prime minister but that didn’t stop him from appointing new cabinet members to try to ensure he can stay on as a caretaker prime minister until autumn.In a speech outside No 10 on Thursday afternoon, Mr Johnson confirmed he was leaving Downing Street and that the process of choosing a new Tory leader would begin imminently.He also said that he had “appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place” – expected to be before the Conservative Pary conference in October.So, who has been appointed to the cabinet?Greg Clark – Levelling up SecretaryRecommendedMichael Gove, who was sacked on Wednesday, has been replaced by Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark, who will take on a government strategic priortity and has become levelling up secretary.Mr Clark, a staunch Remainer, has prior experience in government and was previously secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy under former prime minister Theresa May.Robert Buckland – Welsh SecretaryRobert Buckland has been appointed secretary of state for Wales, following the resignation of Simon Hart. Buckland is the MP for South Swindon but he hails from Llanelli in south Wales.Mr Buckland was only last year sacked by Mr Johnson in a reshuffle in September and has now rejoined the government, telling Sky News he wanted to “serve the country”.Kit Malthouse – Chancello of the Duchy of LancasterKit Malthouse’s new role means he is the most senior minister in the Cabinet Office after the prime minister.Mr Malthouse previously announced he was standing for Tory party leader after Theresa May’s resignation, before later pulling out of the race in June 2019. He was previously a junior minister at the Home Office.Shailesh Vara – Secretary of State for Northern IrelandThe MP for North Cambridgeshire replaces Brandon Lewis.Mr Vara, who campaigner for the UK to remain in the EU, previously resigned as Northern Ireland minister in November 2018 in opposition to Theresa May’s Brexit deal.Andrew Stephenson – minister without portfolioMr Stephenson has no portfolio but will attend cabinet. He previously served as the minister for state with responsiblity for HS2 and the Deparment for Transport and also held juinior roles in the whips office and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.RecommendedJames Cleverly – Education Secretary The MP for Braintree has been appointed education secretary and replaces Michelle Donelan. The Brexiteer has previously served as co-chairman of the Tory party and was also as minister for state for the Middle East and North Africa. More

Labour will stage a Commons vote to try to force Boris Johnson out of No 10 immediately, if he tries to stay on as a caretaker.Keir Starmer urged Conservative MPs to “get rid of him” now – rather than serve a two-month interim period, while a successor is elected, saying: ”He can’t cling on in this way.”“If they don’t get rid of him, Labour will step up in the national interest and bring a vote of no confidence because we can’t go on with this prime minister clinging on for months and months to come,” the Labour leader said.Asked if Tory MPs would “unite” behind the man in No 10 for the vote, Sir Keir argued: “I don’t think anything will unite this Conservative party. They are tearing each other apart.”He spoke out as Mr Johnson filled several vacant cabinet posts and apparently made plans for an afternoon meeting – even before he has formally announced his resignation.The moves are a clear signal of his intention to use the next two months to try to shape his legacy by making important policy decisions – flouting yet another part of the UK constitution.Worried senior Tories are lining up to demand he be removed immediately, with Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, serving as the caretaker.But there is no obvious mechanism to force Mr Johnson out before a successor is found, if he refuses to go willingly.Sir Keir said Mr Johnson had “inflicted lies, fraud and chaos in the country”, adding: “He’s unfit to be prime minister. That’s been blindingly obvious for a very, very long time.”Earlier, George Freeman, who quit as science minister, tweeted: “Boris Johnson needs to hand in the seals of office, apologise to Her Majesty & advise her to call for a Caretaker Prime Minister To take over today”.Nick Gibb, the former schools minister, said: “As well as resigning as Party leader the PM must resign his office. After losing so many ministers, he has lost the trust and authority required to continue.”Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s former aide and now bitter enemy, was blunter: tweeting: “Evict TODAY or he’ll cause CARNAGE.“Even now he’s playing for time & will try to stay No ‘dignity’, no ‘interim while leadership contest’. Raab shd be interim PM by evening.”And Ruth Davidson, the former Tory leader in Scotland, warned: “There’s no way he can stay on until October. It’s arrant nonsense to think he can. Someone needs to grip this.”Other prime ministers have used a caretaker period to shape their legacy, notably Theresa May who passed the landmark legislation committing the UK to net zero carbon emissions.Mr Johnson will be keen to do the same – and has the added motivation of needing to stay in Downing Street for another 28 days to outlast his predecessor.Extraordinarily, Mr Johnson is thought to still be planning a big economic speech in the next few weeks, to shape momentous decisions on future Treasury policy – including, possibly, tax cuts. More

Boris Johnson’s resignation speech has been criticised as “ungracious and boastful” after he lashed out at the Conservative Party revolt that forced him to finally quit.The prime minister attacked the “eccentric” decision to oust him from No 10 and mourned the “pretty relentless sledging” he had received over the last few months.“I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world – but them’s the breaks,” he said at the podium outside No 10.Attacking the “herd instinct” at Westminster, he added: “When the herd moves, it moves. And my friends, in politics, no one is remotely indispensable, and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader.”One senior Tory MP told The Independent it was “pretty damn ungracious”, as a growing number of party figures call for Dominic Raab to be immediately installed as a caretaker PM.Another backbencher added: “He didn’t offer even the smallest shred of contrition. If there was any sense of guilt about forcing him out, he saw it off with that effort.”Senior Labour MP Chris Bryant complained that it was an “utterly disgraceful exit speech … selfish; self-centred, narcissistic, poor me the victim, no regrets, no fault, no mistakes, no apology, no resignation.”Piers Morgan said Mr Johnson had quit as he had led: “Boasting, blathering and blaming everyone but himself. What a terrible final speech by a man who turned out to be a truly terrible Prime minister.”Many others picked up on his use of the casual phrase, “Them’s the breaks” – tweeting pictures of the Queen attending Prince Philip’s funeral in dignified silence, and listing the many problems Mr Johnson leaves the country to face.Mr Johnson said it was “painful” not to be able to see through his ideas, and appeared to give only equivocal backing to his successor. “To that new leader, I say wherever he or she may be, I say I will give you as much support as I can,” he said.The speech comes as Tory MP Nus Ghani, deputy chair of the 1922 Committee, said Mr Raab should take over from Mr Johnson immediately on an interim basis.Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng also suggested Mr Johnson should not stay until October, as has been suggested – saying a new leader is needed “as soon as practicable”.Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said the speech showed “no apology, no contrition – so Johnson”. The backbencher said he was worried about “further damage” Mr Johnson could do while he remains caretaker in the weeks ahead.The Brexiteer suggested Mr Johnson could say he was “unwell” and let Mr Raab take over. Challenged on Sky News over whether Mr Johnson was unwell, Mr Bridgen said: “That depends on who you ask.”George Freeman – who quit as science minister earlier today – tweeted: “Boris Johnson needs to hand in the seals of office, apologise to Her Majesty and advise her to call for a caretaker Prime Minister to take over today.”As debate continued about his future, Mr Johnson named Greg Clark as levelling up secretary, Robert Buckland as Welsh secretary, and James Cleverly as education secretary as he desperately tries to fill vacant cabinet posts in a bid to stay on as caretaker prime minister until the autumn.Shailesh Vara becomes the new Northern Ireland secretary after Brandon Lewis quit this morning, while Kit Malthouse will be the new Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, the most senior minister in the Cabinet Office.With more spaces left to appoint, Tory rebel Aaron Bell, a red wall MP from the 2019 intake, said it was not “tenable for [Mr Johnson] to continue as a caretaker if he cannot fill the ministerial appointments he needs to”.Labour will stage a Commons vote to try to force Mr Johnson out of No 10 immediately, if he tries to stay on as caretaker.Keir Starmer urged Conservative MPs to “get rid of him” now – rather than serve a two-month interim period, while a successor is elected, saying: ”He can’t cling on in this way.” More

Boris Johnson announced his resignation on Thursday after over 50 Tory MPs walked out from the government over his conduct.He gave a resignation statement from a lectern outside Downing Street – as is tradition – vowing to stay on in power until a new leader is elected, most likely by October.His resignation avoided the need for another no-confidence vote in his leadership, which was expected to take place next week once Tory MPs on the 1922 committee had changed the rules to allow it.But it has triggered a leadership race in the Conservative party that is likely to consume politics for the next few weeks or months.There is no obvious and clear successor to Mr Johnson, though there are a number of candidates in the running, including Liz Truss, Suella Braverman and Steve Baker who all said on Thursday they were considering it.Other names mentioned include Rishi Sunak, who was previously seen in Westminster as the obvious successor but whose stock has fallen in recent months.Others include Penny Mordaunt, a favourite among Tory members, and Ben Wallace the defence secretary. Yet more runners and riders also include Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, Nadhim Zahawi, and Tom Tugendhat – it really is a wide-open field.The timescale of the leadership contest will be decided by the Conservative party’s 1922 committee and is not clear yet. Crucially, Mr Johnson has indicated that he wants to stay as caretaker prime minister during the process.All the MPs who want to take part will face a vote of Tory MPs, with the least popular candidate eliminated. Successive rounds of votes will then take place among Tory MPs – and crucially, the transfer of their supporters to other candidates – will whittle down the field to a final two candidates.Those final two candidates will then be put to the Tory membership, which will make the final decision.Boris Johnson has already said he will stay in office as caretaker until this process is completed. Then he would go to the palace and resign in a short audience with the Queen, and another MP would also go to the palace and ask to form a government. After that, the victor would head straight to Downing Street, and likely address the public from the doorstep. Though there may be some resistance to Mr Johnson remaining in office due to the manner of his departure. If that comes to a head within the Tory party then we may see a no-confidence vote after all – either in parliament or within the Tory party. This will become clear in the coming days.At no point in this process will there be an election or public vote to choose the new prime minister – though they might choose to call an early election to get their own mandate. More

Boris Johnson announced his resignation on Thursday after over 50 Tory MPs walked out from the government over his conduct.He gave a resignation statement from a lectern outside Downing Street – as is tradition – vowing to stay on in power until a new leader is elected, most likely by October.His resignation avoided the need for another no-confidence vote in his leadership, which was expected to take place next week once Tory MPs on the 1922 committee had changed the rules to allow it.But it has triggered a leadership race in the Conservative party that is likely to consume politics for the next few weeks or months.There is no obvious and clear successor to Mr Johnson, though there are a number of candidates in the running, including Liz Truss, Suella Braverman and Steve Baker who all said on Thursday they were considering it.Other names mentioned include Rishi Sunak, who was previously seen in Westminster as the obvious successor but whose stock has fallen in recent months.Others include Penny Mordaunt, a favourite among Tory members, and Ben Wallace the defence secretary. Yet more runners and riders also include Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, Nadhim Zahawi, and Tom Tugendhat – it really is a wide-open field.The timescale of the leadership contest will be decided by the Conservative party’s 1922 committee and is not clear yet. Crucially, Mr Johnson has indicated that he wants to stay as caretaker prime minister during the process.All the MPs who want to take part will face a vote of Tory MPs, with the least popular candidate eliminated. Successive rounds of votes will then take place among Tory MPs – and crucially, the transfer of their supporters to other candidates – will whittle down the field to a final two candidates.Those final two candidates will then be put to the Tory membership, which will make the final decision.Boris Johnson has already said he will stay in office as caretaker until this process is completed. Then he would go to the palace and resign in a short audience with the Queen, and another MP would also go to the palace and ask to form a government. After that, the victor would head straight to Downing Street, and likely address the public from the doorstep. Though there may be some resistance to Mr Johnson remaining in office due to the manner of his departure. If that comes to a head within the Tory party then we may see a no-confidence vote after all – either in parliament or within the Tory party. This will become clear in the coming days.At no point in this process will there be an election or public vote to choose the new prime minister – though they might choose to call an early election to get their own mandate. More

Boris Johnson has caved in to a Conservative Party revolt after months of ethics scandals and resigned as party leader, but he remains Britain’s prime minister — for now — while a successor is chosen.With British politics in turmoil, here’s a look at what will happen next:CONSERVATIVE CONTESTJohnson’s resignation on Thursday, which came after dozens of ministers quit his government in protest, sparks a party contest to replace him as leader. All Conservative lawmakers are eligible to run, and party officials could open the nominations within hours.After candidates have come forward, Conservative lawmakers vote in a series of elimination rounds. The candidate with the lowest number of votes drops out, and voting continues until there are two contenders left. Depending on the number of candidates, the process could be completed within days.The final two candidates will be put to a vote of the full party membership across the country — about 180,000 people — by postal ballot. That process is expected to take several weeks, with the exact timetable up to the 1922 Committee that runs party elections.The winner of the vote will become both Conservative leader and prime minister, without the need for a national election.Already the list of likely contenders is long and growing, from recently resigned Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, his successor in that job Nadhim Zahawi, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Attorney General Suella Braverman and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.WHO’S IN CHARGE?While Johnson has resigned as party leader, but he is still prime minister until his successor is elected.His predecessor, Theresa May, remained in office for more than a month between announcing her resignation and the selection of Johnson as the new Tory leader.But many Conservatives say Johnson can’t stay in office — he has simply lost too many ministers through resignations to be able to govern. They are demanding he step down as prime minister and let an interim leader take the reins. If he does that, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab is a likely caretaker candidate.ANOTHER CRISIS?Johnson shows no signs of going early. He appointed several new Cabinet ministers on Thursday to replace those he has lost, and said they would “serve as I will until a new leader is in place.”If party officials press Johnson to quit sooner and he refuses, the chaos engulfing the government could worsen in the short term. Already the government has had to cancel business in Parliament because it has no ministers available to attend.Gavin Barwell, who served as chief of staff to Prime Minister Theresa May, said “there was a “question whether the PM will be able to lead a caretaker government in the meantime — will enough ministers agree to serve?” More

Boris Johnson has named Greg Clark as levelling up secretary, Robert Buckland as Welsh secretary, and James Cleverly as education secretary as he filled vacant cabinet posts in a bid to stay on as caretaker prime minister until the autumn.Shailesh Vara becomes the new Northern Ireland secretary after Brandon Lewis quit this morning, while Kit Malthouse will be the new Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, the most senior minister in the Cabinet Office.Mr Johnson announced his resignation shortly before 1pm on Thursday after mass resignations from the ministerial ranks. He condemned the “eccentric” Tory revolt.The PM is scrabbling to fill ministerial vacancies as he seeks to continue in office until a new Tory leader is elected, with some in the party pushing for his immediate “eviction” from No 10.Mr Clark – a Remainer and ‘One Nation’ Tory moderate – is replacing Michael Gove in leading the levelling up department after Mr Johnson sacked in his pro-Brexit ally on Wednesday night. One No 10 source dubbed Mr Gove a “snake”.Mr Buckland, another moderate from the One Nation wing, rejoins Mr Johnson’s cabinet after he axed as justice secretary last September. He told Sky News that he accepted the role on the basis the PM was going, and wanted to “serve the country”.Mr Cleverly had been a junior minister at the Foreign Office, while Mr Malthouse had been a junior minister at the Home Office.The appointments come as Tory MP Nus Ghani, deputy chair of the 1922 Committee, said deputy PM Dominic Raab should take over from Mr Johnson immediately on an interim basis.Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has suggested he does not want Mr Johnson to stay until October, as has been suggested – saying a new leader is needed “as soon as practicable”.George Freeman – who quit as science minister earlier today – tweeted: “Boris Johnson needs to hand in the seals of office, apologise to Her Majesty and advise her to call for a caretaker Prime Minister to take over today.”Tory rebel Aaron Bell, a red wall MP from the 2019 intake, said in the Commons it was not “tenable for [Mr Johnson] to continue as a caretaker if he cannot fill the ministerial appointments he needs to”.Despite several vacant junior ministerial posts, Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis insisted: “Government business will continue to function. Other secretaries of state can deal with the issues for other departments.”The interim period for a leadership contest is normally uncontroversial – but never before has a prime minister initially refused to leave power after a cabinet revolt, or previously broken other conventions.Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s now bitter enemy, tweeted: “Evict TODAY or he’ll cause CARNAGE … Raab should be interim PM by evening.”Ruth Davidson, the former Tory leader in Scotland, warned: “There’s no way he can stay on until October. It’s arrant nonsense to think he can. Someone needs to grip this.”Labour will stage a Commons vote to try to force Mr Johnson out of No 10 immediately, if he tries to stay on as caretaker.Keir Starmer urged Conservative MPs to “get rid of him” now – rather than serve a two-month interim period, while a successor is elected, saying: ”He can’t cling on in this way.”The timescale of the leadership contest will be decided by the Conservative party’s 1922 committee and is not clear yet – but could take up to eight weeks.Crucially, Mr Johnson has indicated that he wants to stay as caretaker prime minister during the process. But his messy exit appears to have seen remaining support ebb away.Attorney general Suella Braverman has been mocked in the House of Commons after she declared her leadership ambitions on live television, despite insisting she would not resign her role.Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry later said: “Can I say what an honour it is to be at this despatch box facing the next prime minister as she waits her call from the palace. A true honour.” More

Boris Johnson’s departure as prime minister can lead to a more “constructive” and “respectful” relationship between Britain and the EU, Michel Barnier has said.The former chief Brexit negotiator, who put together the withdrawal agreement in talks with Mr Johnson’s team, said he hoped things could become “more friendly”.The prime minister announced he was stepping down on Thursday afternoon after Cabinet revolt that saw more than 50 Tory MPs walk out of governemnt jobs. The turmoil has not gone unnoticed across the Channel. “The departure of Boris Johnson opens a new page in relations with the UK,” Mr Barnier said in a message posted on social media. “May it be more constructive, more respectful of commitments made, in particular regarding peace & stability in NI, and more friendly with partners in the EU.”Because there’s so much more to be done together.”The former head of the EU’s Brexit task force, who has since retired from the European Commission, was perhaps the most recognisable face of the European Union during Brexit talks. All likely candidates to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister are committed to Brexit, though some like Ben Wallace and Liz Truss supported Remain before the referendum. But it is the particularly combative approach the UK took to relations with the EU that Mr Johnson took which Brussels will hope might be dialled back.The prime minister was often accused of using Brexit as a political tool to rally support at home among Tory MP and Leave voters – deliberately causing problems so he could face off against the EU.It is the prime minister’s approach to the Northern Ireland border that is causing the most anguish in Brussels currently. The prime minister has passed legislation to unilaterally overwrite parts of the deal, which the EU and most observers say breaks international law.MEPs in the European Parliament  slammed Boris Johnson‘s “Fawlty Towers approach to politics” on Wednesday, with parties from across the EU political spectrum gathering in in Strasbourg to slam the UK’s plan to tear up parts of the Brexit deal.Boris Johnson has characterised the changes as minor, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, who has taken over Mr Barnier’s Brexit duties, said the approach had “no political or legal justification whatsoever”.He said that it was “legally and politically inconceivable that the UK decides” how the EU’s trade border was enforced, a situation which the legislation would effectively create. More