British PM Boris Johnson officially calls it quits after series of ethics scandals: It’s ‘like a Salem witch-hunt’

(Video Credit: CBS New York)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has officially resigned after being besieged by numerous ethics scandals and following the resignations of dozens of ministers and officials in the conservative government.

“I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time, thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979,” the prime minister said in his resignation speech.

“And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019. And of course, I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this Government,” he continued.

“I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this Government, from getting Brexit done to settling our relations with the continent for over half a century, reclaiming the power for this country to make its own laws in Parliament, getting us all through the pandemic, delivering the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, the fastest exit from lockdown, and, in the last few months, leading the West in standing up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine,” Johnson added.

“It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister. And I’ve agreed with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of our backbench MPs, that the process of choosing that new leader should begin now and the timetable will be announced next week,” he stated. “And I’ve today appointed a Cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place.”

(Video Credit: Fox Business)

In a lengthy speech on Thursday, Johnson announced that he was stepping down. That came after one of his closest allies, British Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi, reportedly told him to resign for the good of the country. The advice ironically came just two days after Zahawi was appointed by the prime minister following the resignation of his predecessor.

“Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party, and most importantly of all the country,” Zahawi told Johnson in a letter. “You must do the right thing and go now.”

Education Secretary Michelle Donelan, who was appointed as well on Tuesday after her predecessor resigned, also announced her resignation Tuesday morning.

On Wednesday, Johnson was defiant and proclaimed he would not bow to bullying. He claimed he had a mandate from voters and was resolute he was going nowhere. Not so much on Thursday.

The about-turn came after a number of the prime minister’s most trusted Cabinet ministers came to his office on Wednesday requesting that he step down after losing the trust of his party. Instead of listening to his colleagues, Johnson fired one of the cabinet officials, Michael Gove, according to the BBC.

Following that dust-up, five cabinet ministers quit on Thursday. Over 50 officials have left over the last two days since Johnson’s latest scandal surfaced. He is accused of lying about his knowledge of groping allegations against a man whom he appointed as a senior government minister.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

One of Johnson’s biggest headaches was ‘Partygate’ which severely damaged his reputation during the pandemic. He reportedly attended parties at 10 Downing Street and other places while health restrictions prohibited gatherings for regular citizens were in place.

“I just said to him, ‘Look, it’s just when you go now, and it’s how you go,” Bernard Jenkin, who is a senior Conservative Party lawmaker, told Johnson on Wednesday according to Fox News. “You can go with some dignity or you can be forced out like Donald Trump, clinging to power and pretending he’s won the election when he’s lost.’’

Just weeks ago, the prime minister barely survived a no-confidence vote from his own Conservative Party.

“We are… past the point of no return. I cannot sacrifice my personal integrity to defend things as they stand now,” Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis proclaimed in his resignation letter on Thursday.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted, “The PM has made the right decision. The Government under Boris’s leadership had many achievements – delivering Brexit, vaccines and backing Ukraine. We need calmness and unity now and to keep governing while a new leader is found.”

“It’s been like a Salem witch-hunt,” Johnson’s allies claimed, asserting that he has been swept out of office by “hysteria” gripping the Tory party following his refusal to step down.

“The Tory party has gone totally schizo. Every so often they get a mania and that’s what’s happened here. It’s been like a Salem witch-hunt or when a hysteria sweeps through a girls’ school. Read herd thinking stuff. In the end the boss was left with no alternative but to fold the tent.” they told the Daily Mail.

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