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London
CNN
–
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing his biggest crisis yet, after dozens of government officials, including two senior cabinet ministers, resigned over their handling of allegations of sexual misconduct by a member of the government.
Johnson has weathered many storms during his time as prime minister, but this may be one crisis too many.
Here’s what you need to know.
The immediate cause of the crisis was the result of Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher’s resignation last Thursday, amid allegations he had groped two guests at a private dinner the night before.
To put Johnson in deep trouble, however, Downing Street press officers were trying to explain why Pincher was in government in the first place.
Initially, when new reports emerged of Pincher’s atrocious behavior in light of his resignation, Downing Street denied the Prime Minister knew anything about the allegations, which related to Pincher’s time as Foreign Office minister.
When it became clear that this would not be the case, Johnson’s team said it was aware of the historical allegations, but that they had been “resolved.”
When it emerged that one of the previously unreported charges against Pincher had been upheld, Johnson’s spokesman explained that “resolved” could mean that it had been upheld.
Then on Tuesday morning, Simon MacDonald, a former top Foreign Office civil servant, revealed that Johnson had been briefed in person about the outcome of an investigation into Pincher’s conduct, sparking a wave of resignations during the day.
Boris Johnson is still in control of his own destiny … for the moment.
Conservative Party rules dictate that if a leader wins a confidence vote, he is immune from another challenge for 12 months. Johnson survived a confidence vote on 6 June.
However, the current crisis is so deep that it is possible that a 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers could rewrite the rules to get rid of the Prime Minister.
The committee met on Wednesday and decided to hold elections for new leadership on Monday. Once elected, the committee’s new executive will decide whether to change the rules and proceed with one more confidence vote — one that Johnson is far more likely to lose.
Until that point, the question is how much public humiliation Johnson can take. Dozens of lawmakers have now quit the government and a delegation of cabinet members descended on Downing Street on Wednesday evening calling for the prime minister to resign.
One of them – UK Home Secretary Priti Patel – informed Johnson that the general view of the party was that he had to go, a source close to Patel told CNN.
More government ministers are almost certain to resign and opposition sources are talking about the possibility of defections.
In the UK, the resignation of the Prime Minister does not automatically trigger a general election.
If Johnson resigns, the Conservative Party will hold an internal election to choose a new leader, who will then become prime minister.
Johnson will likely remain in office until his successor is chosen, like his predecessors Theresa May and David Cameron when they resigned in May 2019 and June 2016 respectively.
Barring another resignation or an early election, the new prime minister will then lead the UK until the next scheduled election in 2024.
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