John Major has urged the 1922 Conservative Party committee to remove Boris Johnson from office immediately without allowing him to serve temporarily after his resignation, amid growing calls for Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab to be interim prime minister.
That call was echoed by a large number of high-level ministers and conservatives, who said Johnson’s behavior over the past 24 hours had made it impossible for him to stay.
Major, the former Conservative prime minister, issued a letter saying it was “foolish and can be unsustainable” for Johnson to remain in office for up to three months.
He said Raab could become acting prime minister if Johnson sided with him, a move that would have no constitutional precedent. But he said the other option to speed up Johnson’s departure would be to eliminate a vote from party members and let only lawmakers decide who should be the next prime minister.
The 33 hours that brought down Boris Johnson, in three minutes
“In this circumstance, the Prime Minister retains the power of patronage and, even more worryingly, the power to make decisions that will affect the lives of those within the four nations of the UK and beyond,” he wrote to the committee chair. , Sir Graham Brady.
“Some will argue that his new cabinet will slow him down. I just find that his previous cabinet didn’t or couldn’t do it.”
Major said none of the options were “ideal,” but that they were necessary. “The interests of the country must be given priority over everything else and, with so many long-term and critical problems before us, an imaginative response, even at the risk of some bruised feelings within the party, is definitely in the national interest. ”
Nick Gibb, a former minister, said the prime minister should resign. “After losing so many ministers, he has lost the confidence and authority needed to continue,” he said.
George Freeman, who resigned as science minister on Thursday morning, agreed and said: “We need ministers to return to their desks. Now the prime minister has finally done what he needs to deliver the stamps of the charge, apologize to His Majesty, allow him to appoint an interpreter under whom ministers can serve, so that the Conservative Party can choose a new leader correctly.
Another former minister said, “He has to leave tonight. Raab should take over.”
Simon Hoare, a background MP, wrote on Twitter: “Ministers resigned * because * of the prime minister. The party lost confidence * because * of the PM. It is beyond credulity that Mr Johnson can to remain in office … New constitutional territory, but it has to go and it means to go “.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter, every weekday morning at 7:00 BST
A very advanced conservative source who has been with Johnson in recent days said his “reckless and erratic” behavior meant it was dangerous for the country to stay. “He cannot be trusted to lead the country until the autumn. God knows what he will do. “
A former government adviser said it was “dangerous” for Johnson to remain in office. Another former minister called it “a shame.”