On 7 July 2022, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned as party leader following the mass resignation from his cabinet. Johnson will remain Prime Minister until a new successor is chosen. The mass resignation comes in the wake of the Chris Pincher Sexual Assault Scandal when a senior member of Johnson’s cabinet was accused of many cases of sexual misconduct. It was revealed that Boris Johnson was aware of the complaints and had done nothing to address them. The mass resignation meant that Johnson has lost his majority and will have to step down.
7. Down in just over a day
Chris Pincher has been party to sexual abuse scandals since 2017. In June 2022, Pincher had gotten drunk and sexually grabbed two adult men. New allegations arose when Boris Johnson was accused of having ignored complaints about Pincher’s behaviour.
From 5 July 2022, Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak resigned, following Johnson’s admission that Pincher’s appointment as Deputy Party Whip was a mistake. Following this, 36 British MPs resigned in 24 hours, marking the largest number of the resignation of MPs in 24 hours since 1932. The following day, even more, resigned, bringing the number to over 50.
Johnson’s support of Pincher has been called the last in a long list of embarrassments for the British Parliament. The MPs are from the Conservative Party and are not strongly swayed by the destructive racist and anti-poor politics of the state. Rather the crass persona of Boris Johnson has offended them so dearly that the Pincher Scandal was a bridge too far. Johnson has not been known for his sterling character and has seemed to have made a political career by being an oafish rogue.
