UK Politics

Boris Johnson is expected to make ministerial appointments shortly as he seeks to continue in office until a new Tory leader is elected.“The prime minister will shortly make new appointments to his ministerial team,” a No 10 source said.It comes as Mr Johnson prepares to announce his resignation, quitting as Tory leader in a statement to the nation on Wednesday. He aims to remain in office until his successor is elected by the Conservative Party – a process that could conclude in September.But some Conservative MPs have already raised doubts over whether the prime minister, who has haemorrhaged support in the last 48 hours, will able to fill ministerial posts in a “caretaker” government.The interim is normally uncontroversial, but never before has a prime minister initially refused to leave power after a cabinet revolt, or previously broken other laws and conventions.George Freeman, who quit as science minister today, 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”.It would allow ministers to “get back to work & we can choose a new Conservative Leader to try & repair the damage & rebuild trust”, he added.Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, also said Mr Johnson should go immediately, adding: “None of this nonsense about clinging on for a few months. Enough is enough”.Speaking in the Commons, however, Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis said the government will continue to function, telling MPs “other secretaries of state can deal with the issues for other departments, constitutionally and legally in necessary circumstances”.“I cannot pre-empt the Prime Minister’s statement,” he said. “And the House and the nation will hear more very shortly, but Government and the civil service will continue to function in the meantime.“The business of the House statement will be made shortly, and members can ask questions of the Leader of the House of Commons about the matter of the business of this place.“But the House will continue to function, and Government business will continue to function.“Other secretaries of state can deal with the issues for other departments, constitutionally and legally in necessary circumstances.” More

Politicians in the UK have been reacting to the sudden annoucement that Boris Johnson is to resign as prime minister.Mr Johnson faced a deluge of ministerial resignations and a cabinet rebellion that prompted him to speak to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee, to inform him of his decision to stand down.The prime minister is expected to say he wants to remain in place until a successor is in place, which will reportedly be by the time of the Conservative Party conference in October.Labour leader Keir Starmer said it was “good news” that Mr Johnson had resigned but that it “should have happened long ago” and called for a “proper change of government”.He said: “He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale. And all those who have been complicit should be utterly ashamed.“The Tory party have inflicted chaos upon the country during the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. And they cannot now pretend they are the ones to sort it out.”“They have been in power for 12 years. The damage they have done is profound.“Twelve years of economic stagnation. Twelve years of declining public services. Twelve years of empty promises.“Enough is enough. We don’t need to change the Tory at the top – we need a proper change of government.”Labour MP Chris Bryant, a frequent critic of Mr Johnson, greeted the news with a simple, “He’s toast. He’s going”.He added on Twitter: “He can’t stay on for three more months. That’s preposterous. And dangerous.”Mr Bryant’s party colleague Ian Lavery was also concerned about Mr Johnson’s reported decision to stay in post for a further few months.He said on Twitter: “I seriously worry about @BorisJohnson departure date. What decisions he could make between now and then could hugely impact on the the nation. If he resigns today he should be gone today.Meanwhile, George Freeman, who announced he was resigning as science minister on Thursday morning, said the prime minister must apologise to the Queen and advise her to call for a caretaker prime minister.He 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 so that ministers can get back to work and we can choose a new Conservative leader to try and repair the damage and rebuild trust.”Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon also questioned whether it was “sustainable” for him to remain in the role until the autumn and said there was a “widespread relief” he was quitting.She tweeted: “There will be a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end, though notion of Boris Johnson staying on as PM until autumn seems far from ideal, and surely not sustainable?“Boris Johnson was always manifestly unfit to be PM and the Tories should never have elected him leader or sustained him in office for as long as they have.“But the problems run much deeper than one individual. The Westminster system is broken.”However, offering a contrasting view, veteran Tory MP David Davis has said he is “not too bothered” about Mr Johnson remaining in power until later this year. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The simple truth, this is going to take a month or two.“We’re hearing from people who were happy to be in Cabinet one week ago that we have now got to do this in five minutes flat.“I’m not too bothered about the idea of Boris staying in place until we’ve got a new leadership.”Wales first minister Mark Drakeford said he was “pleased” Mr Johnson will be resigning and called for a general election to determine the next prime minister.He said on Twitter: “I’m pleased the prime minister has now done the right thing and agreed to resign. All four nations need a stable UK government.“The way to achieve that is by a general election so the decision about the next prime minister is made by the people and not by the narrow membership of the Conservative party.”And David Lammy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, did not mince his words about the soon-to-be former Tory leader.He said on Twitter: “Good riddance to the most dishonest, incompetent and amoral Prime Minister in modern British history. He should never have been allowed to dishonour Number 10. “Now it’s time to boot his Party of acolytes and sycophants out of power and give Britain a fresh start.”Labour MP Zarah Sultana was similarly unequivocal in her condemnation of the prime minister.She said on Twitter: “Today I’m thinking about the time Boris Johnson mocked Muslim women as ‘bank robbers’ & ‘letterboxes’ — sparking a 375% rise in Islamophobic incidents — & much of the political class shrugged their shoulders & let him off. Good riddance to Boris. Shame on those who enabled him.” More

Boris Johnson will cause “carnage” if he’s allowed to stay on as caretaker prime minister during a leadership contest, Dominic Cummings has said.The former chief advisor to Mr Johnson called for his former boss to be “evicted today”, saying he is “playing for time and will try to stay”.He said deputy prime minister Dominic Raab should be made interim prime minister by Thursday evening.Mr Johnson is set to step down as prime minister today, but has signalled he intends to stay on as a caretaker until a new Tory leader is elected, probably in October – creating a two-month period of uncertainty.The interim is normally uncontroversial, but never before has a prime minister initially refused to leave power after a cabinet revolt, or previously broken other laws and conventions.On Thursday morning, Mr Cummings tweeted: “Evict today or he’ll cause carnage, even now he’s playing for time and will try to stay.“No ‘dignity’, no ‘interim while leadership contest’. Raab should be interim PM by evening.”The news of Mr Johnson’s imminent resignation came after a fatal onslaught of resignations in protest over his leadership.Worried senior Tories have said they wanted him to be forced out of No 10 immediately, fearing further damage after he bent the constitution in a desperate bid to stay in power.The slew of more than 50 resignations continued on Thursday morning, with Michelle Donelan’s departure as education secretary just 35 hours into the role making her the fifth cabinet minister to quit.Mr Johnson’s new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi also publicly urged him to “do the right thing and go now”, as Suella Braverman revealed ambitions to replace him as prime minister while still in post as attorney general.The dramatic collapse in support came after it emerged Mr Johnson promoted Tory MP Chris Pincher to a role with responsibility for MPs’ welfare, despite knowledge of misconduct claims against him. More

Newly appointed chancellor Nadhim Zahawi publicly called on Boris Johnson to resign, telling the prime minister: “You must do the right thing and go now.”The dramatic intervention came just two days after Mr Zahawi was appointed to replace Rishi Sunak, who quit as chancellor on Tuesday.A source close to Mr Zahawi made clear he is not resigning, however, adding: “The country needs a chancellor and he will serve as long as he’s asked to do so.”Moments after the new chancellor’s call for Mr Johnson to resign, Michelle Donelan, who was promoted to education secretary two days ago, also quit her role.Earlier on Thursday morning, Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, resigned, telling Mr Johnson in a scathing letter that government requires “honesty, integrity and mutual respect”.Mr Zahawi’s call came following another day of high drama at Westminster, which saw the PM hit with an avalanche of ministerial resignations. But he dug in and refused to resign.Later on Thursday, Mr Johnson finally decided to call it a day. He was due to announce his resignation imminently.Despite vowing to “fight on” just last night, the prime minister spoke with the chairman of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee and agreed to stand down.It is expected he will remain in post until a new Tory leader is in place by the party’s annual conference in October, a No 10 source said.A Downing Street spokesperson added: “The prime minister will make a statement to the country today”.It came after two more cabinet ministers also left government. Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, was sacked and branded a “snake” by No 10.Simon Hart, the Welsh secretary, also resigned on Wednesday night. He had been among a “delegation” of cabinet ministers who went to No 10 to tell him that he should listen to the overwhelming view of his party. More

Worried senior Tories want Boris Johnson to be forced out of No 10 immediately, fearing further damage after he bent the constitution in a desperate bid to stay in power.The outgoing prime minister has signalled he intends to stay on as a caretaker until a new Tory leader is elected, probably in September – creating a two-month period of uncertainty.The interim is normally uncontroversial, but never before has a prime minister initially refused to leave power after a cabinet revolt, or previously broken other laws and conventions.George Freeman, who quit as science minister today, 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”.It would allow ministers to “get back to work & we can choose a new Conservative Leader to try & repair the damage & rebuild trust”, he added.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. We need an acting PM who is not a candidate for leader to stabilise the government while a new leader is elected.” David Frost, the former Brexit minister, agreed that Mr Johnson “cannot now credibly be a caretaker Prime Minister while a leadership election is taking place”.“We have a Deputy PM who can straightforwardly fulfil that role and he should,” he added – referring to Dominic Raab.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.Today, the Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent Treasury watchdog, warned taxes must rise to avert an “unsustainable” tax burden. More

Boris Johnson will imminently announce his resignation after facing mass resignations from the ministerial ranks and a cabinet revolt.Despite vowing to “fight on” just last night, the prime minister has spoken with the chairman of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee and agreed to stand down.It is expected he will attempt to remain in post until a new Tory leader is in place by the party’s annual conference in October, a No 10 source said.A Downing Street spokesperson added: “The prime minister will make a statement to the country today”.Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the news, but said: “It should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office.“He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale. And all those who have been complicit should be utterly ashamed.”The Labour leader added: “Enough is enough. We don’t need to change the Tory at the top – we need a proper change of government. We need a fresh start for Britain.”Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon also questioned whether it was “sustainable” for him to remain in the role until the autumn.She tweeted: “There will be a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end, though notion of Boris Johnson staying on as PM until autumn seems far from ideal, and surely not sustainable?The prime minister won the Tories’ biggest majority in decades at the 2019 general election, but his premiership has been destablised in recent months by multiple scandals.And in the last 48 hours the prime minister has haemorrhaged support among all wings of the party, suffering the resignations of his chancellor Rishi Sunak and dozens of other ministers.In total 57 have resigned or have been sacked from the government since Tuesday evening. It is the equivalent of a third of the total “payroll vote” in the House of Commons – the number of MPs who hold positions from which they would have to resign in order to oppose the government.The 57 comprises six cabinet ministers, 22 ministers, 22 parliamentary private secretaries, four trade envoys and three vice-chairs or deputy chairs of the Conservative party.Once Mr Johnson officially announces his resignation, the timetable for a contest is agreed by the 1922 Committee and Tory Party HQ, with a new Tory leader expected to be in place by the party conference in October. More

Boris Johnson and his former ministers are being urged to reject nearly half a million pounds in redundancy pay set to be paid to them for resigning.Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, MPs leaving office are entitled to 25 per cent of their annual salaries in severance.This benefit applies even if they voluntarily resign from the government, and even if they do so for political reasons – or leave government in disgrace.Over 50 ministers and parliamentary private secretaries have quit their roles in the last 36 hours in a bid to oust Mr Johnson – meaning Tory infighting could land the taxpayer with a bill of over £420,000.Even Chris Pincher, the Tamworth MP whose alleged behaviour ultimately triggered the governemnt meltdown, is entitled to a £7,920 pay-off for leaving his job as deputy chief whip.In some cases ministers were in office for just two days, having been installed by Boris Johnson in the death throes of his premiership, and then quitting.And Boris Johnson himself is in line for a taxpayer handout of £18,860.The payments have raised eyebrows in the past because ministers are not becoming unemployed, but simply returning to the backbenches – where they will still be paid a basic salary of £84,144 a year.Government ministers are paid between £67,505 and £22,475 on top of their MPs’ salaries, with the prime minister getting an extra £75,440.As a result cabinet ministers like Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid are in line for £16,876 ‘golden goodbyes’, while ministers of state like Kemi Badenoch could take home £7,920.Even parliamentary private secretaries like Jonathan Gullis are entitled to £5,594 each.Opposition parties are urging the Tory MPs to “do the decent thing” and reject the pay-offs.“Conservative MPs spent months defending Boris Johnson and failed to get rid of him when they had the chance,” said Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain.”The public won’t forgive them for keeping him in place for so long. “Now Conservative infighting and sheer incompetence has cost the taxpayer yet more money during this cost of living crisis.“Conservative ministers who resigned should do the decent thing and pass up their payoffs for the good of the country.”Labour MP Rupa Huq raised the issue in the Commons on Thursday morning.”At the same time we’ve got a government gripped by paralysis, and we have a cost of living crisis,” she said.”Can he confirm now from that despatch box that they will be forfeiting their right to this? Because we do not reward failure.”Michael Ellis, the Cabinet Office minister and Paymaster General responding for the government said: “The measure that the honourable lady refers to is set in statute. So it is a matter for the law and that law would have been passed by this house.” More

Boris Johnson’s new education secretary has quit her post just two days after being appointed, as the Cabinet meltdown continuesMichelle Donelan said she had “no choice” to leave the Cabinet and that the prime minister had put his colleagues in “an impossible situation”. She is among over 50 Tory MPs to leave government jobs in the last 36 hours over Mr Johnson’s conduct.Ms Donelan’s resignation leaves the Department for Education with zero ministers just weeks away from A-Level results day on 18 August this year.She quit shortly after the Mr Johnson’s new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, also in his job for two days, called on the prime minister to resign – though he has stayed in his role.In her letter Ms Donelan said: “Whilst I remain very worried about the prospect of no ministers in the Department as we approach results day – the impact on students is real – as you know, yesterday I pleaded with you to do the right thing and resign for the sake of our country and our Party, both are more important than an one person“In life we must alwavs do what we believe is right. Above all I am here to serve the British public. I see no way that you can continue in post, but without a formal mechanism to remove you it seems that the only way that this is only possible is for those of us who reman in Cabinet to force your hand.“You have put us in an impossible situation. I am deeply saddened that it has come to this, but as someone who values integrity above all else. l have no choice.”Ms Donelan, the MP for Chippenham, had previously served as higher education minister from 2020 to 2022 before being promoted. More