Rishi Sunak (Chancellor) and Sajid Javid (Health Secretary), have both resigned from their Cabinet posts this evening. Their resignations are similar to Oliver Dowden’s in the latter part of June.
These resignations were made in light of a recent letter from Lord MacDonald the former Permanent Secretary to the Foreign Office. In it, he made it clear that the prime minster had not been truthful about what he had previously claimed he knew about the allegations surrounding Mr Pincher.
In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Sunak said, “things can ‘no longer continue like this”, commenting that, “The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly and seriously”.
Mr Javid and Mr Sunak are very close to each other. Mr Sunak was previously a Treasury official. Mr Sunak is also close to Mr Dowden, which suggests that this may have been a coordinated action by some of the government officials to take action against Mr Johnson.
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It remains to be seen if there will be any more resignations during the evening.
Although a number of junior ministers had already resigned, it will be more resignations from Cabinet that will be the main focus. This could be because these initial resignations of senors may prompt further ministers to act.
Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister of Britain, was forced to resign in 1990. She had been told by many Cabinet ministers that they would resign if Number 10 was not left. After meeting with the cabinet throughout the evening, she submitted her resignation the next morning.
In the beginning of the year, Sunak was considered the favorite to replace Johnson by the bookies. Following revelations about his wife’s tax affairs, his popularity has waned in recent months, but this shock resignation may earn him plaudits from those in the parliamentary conservative party who have been desperate from Mr Johnson to quit.
With the prospect of further high drama, tomorrow Mr Johnson is due to face both prime minister’s questions and the liaison committee at Westminster.
