While a damning investigation will be made public, the former British Prime Minister has resigned from his post as an MP. But it is to better fight the battle: with, in sight, the current host of Downing Street, Rishi Sunak.
The United Kingdom continues to suffer from the symptoms of a virus maliciously nicknamed by political commentators, “the Boris Long”. Indeed, since leaving the government nine months ago, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has regularly returned to provoke a new bout of fever.
In a letter published Friday, June 9, Johnson announced with a bang his resignation from his post as an MP. In fact, the former head of government anticipates the damning conclusions of the report on “Partygate”, the embarrassing affair of Downing Street parties during the pandemic, which should be released in the coming hours.
The pandemic has claimed 210,000 lives in the United Kingdom, the record on the European continent. The whole country now knows that members of the government, including their leader, did not respect the rules of social distancing which they themselves had enacted: the British were asked to stay at home under penalty of fines and even deprived the right to say goodbye to their loved ones, while birthday parties and dances took place regularly at the Prime Minister’s house.
Johnson escalates his case
What Boris Johnson, during his hearing before parliament, continued to deny despite the evidence. The committee should therefore recommend a suspension of MP Johnson for more than ten days, which, in effect, results in a by-election. The former head of government aggravated his case by publicly denigrating the bias of the committee members, denouncing “a witch hunt”.
Conspiratorial accents, not unlike Donald Trump to whom he has often been compared, and with whom he had lunch two weeks ago. The British incarnation of the American populist leader, BoJo dominated British political life with his indescribable tousled hair, his crumpled suit, his eloquence and his sense of humor, an appearance that made his colleagues pass for nightcaps and an ability to seduce the popular classes. He will remain the man who won Brexit.
In his biography, “Johnson at number 10”, Anthony Seldon recalls that this former journalist is nevertheless a pure product of the British elite “who spent a lot of energy posing as an outsider”.
56% of voters do not want him to regain a seat as an MP
The historian paints a pathological portrait of Johnson in business, a man unable to concentrate and whose ignorance of the files has become legendary. Boris Johnson is convinced that he owes his fall to Rishi Sunak, the current Prime Minister and his former collaborator, whom he suspects of having leaked to the press, the “Partygate” celebrations. Between the two men, war is declared.
Sunak said on Monday that Johnson would have asked him to validate honorary appointments for those close to him, including his own father Stanley Johnson: “He asked me to do something that I was not ready to do,” said the head of government . To which Johnson replied that “it was rubbish”.
Today, the British no longer want to hear about the former star of the Conservative Party. According to a poll, 56% of voters do not want him to find a seat as a deputy. But soon to be 59, Boris Johnson is not about to disappear from political life. He made the promise in the conclusion of his letter of resignation. Pure Boris Johnson, using the words of his favorite hero: “As the great Arnold Schwarzenegger, character from Terminator, said: I’ll be back (I will come back). »
This article is originally published on leparisien.fr
