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LONDON – Boris Johnson’s troubled prime minister is faltering on the sidelines after two of his top cabinet ministers resigned on Tuesday night.
The resignations of Rishi Sunak as chancellor and Sajid Javid as health secretary a few minutes apart are the double worst blow the prime minister has suffered since entering Downing Street in 2019.
The drama erupted after days of questions in Westminster about what Johnson knew exactly about a scandal involving one of his key allies, Chris Pincher, who resigned from a government post amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
After days of reports and an explosive charge recorded by a former public official, Downing Street was forced to admit that Johnson had been told in 2019 that Pincher was under investigation on separate charges. Despite this knowledge, the prime minister appointed him deputy director of the association, a role that, ironically, involves enforcing party discipline.
Johnson finally apologized Tuesday and admitted that giving the job to Pincher had been “the wrong thing to do.”
But the management of this last chapter of the Westminster drama reinforced the feeling of an ongoing crisis that was enveloping the Prime Minister. On Tuesday evening, Javid and Sunak decided they couldn’t stand working with him anymore.
POLITICO takes you through the story of the latest scandal that seems to have been the drop that makes you rubber on two of the biggest beasts in the Johnson administration:
July 2016: Tamworth MP Chris Pincher gets his first government role in the whip office, tasked with overseeing government discipline, after Theresa May becomes prime minister.
November 2017: Pincher resigns after former professional rowing and activist Tory Alex Story accused him of making unwanted passes. Pincher denies the allegations and a party investigation later clarifies the wrongdoing.
Chris Pincher got his first government role in the whip’s office in July 2016 | Parliament of the United Kingdom
January 2018: Theresa May takes Pincher back to government as deputy director of her minority government.
July 25, 2019: Pincher is promoted to Minister of State in the Department of Foreign Affairs after Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister.
Summer 2019: Officials complain to diplomatic chief Simon McDonald about Pincher’s behavior. McDonald describes the allegations as “similar” to allegations of his conduct at the Carlton Club last week. An investigation confirms the complaint of officials. Pincher apologizes and vows not to repeat the behavior, according to the McDonald’s account.
Late 2019: Johnson is aware of the complaint accepted against Pincher by Foreign Ministry officials after the investigation. Number 10 now characterizes it as informing the Prime Minister instead of asking him to act, as the problem had been resolved.
February 2020: Pincher moves to the communities department.
February 9, 2022: After playing a key role in the so-called “Operation Save the Big Dog,” an effort by the prime minister’s allies to bolster support following a threat of leadership, Pincher returns to the key position of parliamentary executor. of the deputy director of the whip.
In the hours following his appointment, the property and ethics team in the cabinet office studied a complaint. Number 10 says that a different concern was raised and examined in the Foreign Ministry’s complaint, but it was not taken forward and therefore it was not considered appropriate to prevent Pincher from taking on this role.
June 30: Pincher resigns saying he was “embarrassed” after drinking too much. An anonymous Downing Street source tells the BBC he will not face any other party action and will keep the whip, meaning he may remain a Conservative MP. Three sources tell POLITICO that the prime minister became aware of the allegations against Pincher during the reshuffle in which he was elevated to deputy director.
July 1: At the regular news session on Friday for Westminster journalists, the deputy prime minister’s official spokesman insists the prime minister was unaware of any allegations against Pincher at the time of promoting him in February. Later in the briefing, he corrected himself by saying that Johnson was unaware of any “specific” allegations against Pincher.
Later, July 1: Pincher has the whip suspended while the Independent Complaints and Complaints Scheme, the mechanism for examining official complaints, investigates allegations of palpitations.
July 2: Pincher says he is seeking professional medical help.
July 3: Asked on Sunday political TV shows what the Prime Minister knew, Labor and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey told Sky News: “I don’t know if he was informed of specific statements about any particular incident. I don’t think he was aware of it. “
July 4: Just after 7am: Will Quince, a junior minister, tells Sky News: “I anticipated this question, I spoke to the number 10, both yesterday and this morning, and I asked firmly and clearly an explanation of what had happened. And they have given me a categorical assurance that the Prime Minister was not aware of any denunciation or specific denunciation filed against the former deputy chief. “
Former chief diplomat Simon McDonald released a letter alleging that Boris Johnson was briefed on the 2019 investigation | Will Oliver / EPA-EFE
11:30 a.m .: At the usual Downing Street briefing, the prime minister’s official spokesman changes the official line, telling reporters that the prime minister was aware of “some complaints” that “were resolved or did not progress. “. But he said: “At the time of the appointment, the prime minister was unaware of any specific allegations being examined.”
10pm: The BBC reports that the Prime Minister was informed of the 2019 complaint while Pincher was working at the Foreign Office.
July 5: 7 am Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, in a media round, confirms that Pincher was investigated for alleged misconduct while a minister in the Foreign Ministry, but says this did not lead to disciplinary action . Raab was Secretary of Foreign Affairs at the time of the investigation.
7:30 a.m. Former chief diplomat Simon McDonald publishes a letter alleging that Johnson was in fact briefed on the 2019 investigation and warning No. 10 Downing Street that it should be “clarified.”
12 noon: The prime minister’s spokesman tells reporters he had later learned of the Foreign Office’s investigation into Johnson. Simultaneously in the House of Commons, Paying General Michael Ellis told lawmakers he had told the prime minister, but “did not immediately recall the conversation.”
6pm: Johnson apologizes in a TV clip, saying naming Pincher was “what needed to be done.”
18:02: Sajid Javid announces on Twitter that he has resigned as Secretary of Health. In his resignation letter, he says the Conservative party is no longer popular or seen as competent. “It is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership and therefore you have also lost my confidence.”
18:11: Rishi Sunak resigns, writing on Twitter: “The public rightly expects the government to conduct itself properly, competently and seriously. I recognize that this may be my last ministerial job, but I think it is worth fighting for these rules. and that is why I will resign. ”