July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis

This article is about the crisis that ended Boris Johnson's premiership. For the crisis that ended Liz Truss's premiership, see October 2022 United Kingdom government crisis.

July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis
Boris Johnson announcing his intention to resign as Conservative leader on 7 July 2022
Date5–7 July 2022 (2022-07-05 – 2022-07-07)
Cause
Motive
Participants
Outcome

In early July 2022, 62 of the United Kingdom's 179 government ministers, parliamentary private secretaries, trade envoys, and party vice-chairmen resigned from their positions in the second administration formed by Boris Johnson as Prime Minister,[1] culminating in Johnson's resignation on 7 July.[2] Johnson's premiership had been considered in danger for months after several scandals, but it was the Chris Pincher scandal that was identified to have spurred on the resignations. Considered the "last straw" for the Prime Minister, the scandal arose after it was revealed that Johnson had promoted his Deputy Chief Government Whip Chris Pincher, who was publicly facing multiple allegations of sexual assault, to the position despite knowing of the allegations beforehand.[3][4]

Since mid-2021, Johnson's premiership had been impacted by controversies over his actions relating to Owen Paterson's lobbying and the Partygate scandal. These, combined with impacts on electoral performance, led to the governing Conservative Party holding a vote of confidence in Johnson's leadership in June 2022, which he won, although he was politically weakened.[5] On 5 July, following the Chris Pincher scandal, both Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, respectively Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, resigned almost simultaneously.[6] A large number of other members of the government also resigned,[7] leading to speculation over whether Johnson would continue as prime minister.[8][9] Conservative and opposition MPs, including some members of Johnson's Cabinet, called for Johnson himself to resign. Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition, criticised Johnson and Conservatives who remained in cabinet at Prime Minister's Questions.[10] During the crisis, sixty Members of Parliament (MPs) had resigned from government and party positions. Johnson also dismissed Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, who had refused to publicly affirm his support for him.[11]

After previously saying he would remain as Conservative Party leader to see through the party's manifesto pledges, Johnson announced on 7 July that he would resign as leader but remain as Prime Minister in a caretaker capacity until a new party leader was elected, with the results of the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election being released on 5 September 2022.[12][13][14] After the opposition called for a motion of no confidence to the government with Johnson as PM, Johnson's government called a vote of confidence in itself with no reference to the PM, which they won. On 5 September, Liz Truss was elected leader of the Conservative Party and succeeded Johnson as prime minister on 6 September 2022. Truss would resign as leader of the Conservative Party on 20 October 2022 amid another government crisis, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. Truss would be succeeded by Sunak, after he won the leadership contest to replace her.

  1. ^ "Government ministers". Institute for Government. May 2022. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  2. ^ Guy, Jack; McGee, Luke; Kottasová, Ivana (7 July 2022). "UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigns after mutiny in his party". CNN. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  3. ^ Cardownie, Steve (6 July 2022). "Boris finished? Revelations about Pincher could be last straw". Scotsman. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  4. ^ MacDougall, Andrew (7 July 2022). "Opinion | 'Letting Boris be Boris killed Boris': Why Chris Pincher was the last straw, as Boris Johnson is forced to resign as British PM". Toronto Star. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  5. ^ Mason, Rowena (6 June 2022). "Boris Johnson wins no-confidence vote despite unexpectedly large rebellion". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  6. ^ Cowburn, Ashley (5 July 2022). "Rishi Sunak resigns as chancellor in devastating blow to Boris Johnson". Independent. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  7. ^ Hordon, Daniel (6 July 2022). "Listed: All the Tory MPs who have resigned since Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak quit". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Government resignations: Who has gone, who is staying?". BBC News. 6 July 2022. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  9. ^ Mason, Chris (6 July 2022). "Chris Mason: Boris Johnson facing day of judgement". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  10. ^ Walker, Peter (6 July 2022). "'Charge of the lightweight brigade': Starmer uses PMQs to mock Tories". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  11. ^ Wood, Poppy (6 July 2022). "Michael Gove sacked by Boris Johnson after calling on the Prime Minister to resign". i. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  12. ^ Adam, Karla; Booth, William (7 July 2022). "Boris Johnson blames 'the herd,' resigns to make way for new U.K. leader". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  13. ^ Amos, Owen (7 July 2022). "Boris Johnson resigns: Five things that led to the PM's downfall". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Boris Johnson facing calls to quit as PM as soon as possible". BBC News. 7 July 2022. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.