© Peter Nicholls, Pool Photo via AP/TASS
On July 7, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his decision to resign as Prime Minister of Great Britain and leader of the Conservative Party (Tories). But he is still going to keep running the government and the party until the next election, and pledged ultimate support to the future Tory and Cabinet leader. Johnson also snatched an opportunity to hold out promises to Ukraine "for as long as it takes" even after his resignation.
The United Kingdom has been gossiping about this for quite some time now – politicians, journalists, ordinary Britons at home and in pubs say "toxic" and deceitful Boris Johnson must leave office he assumed on July 23, 2019. As late as a couple of days ago Johnson swore that he would never resign of his own will ˗ and there goes nothing! That’s Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson all over – extravagant, unpredictable, inconsistent.
He left ignominiously after 50 ministers and officials of various levels had left the government by Thursday morning, loathing further work with Johnson. Such obstruction against a British Prime Minister is historically unique. A similar ministerial exodus took place 90 years ago, in 1932, during Ramsey MacDonald's second term.
Boris Johnson apparently deserved this kind of condemnation and shame. Throughout his entire conscious activity, he battled his way to the top often in defiance of generally accepted norms and rules. His fall has been around for quite a long time. The first signs appeared right after his triumphant victory in the snap elections of December 2019, when his party got a majority in the House of Commons. He promised Britain a smooth withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit) and defeated the Jeremy Corbyn’s Labor Party hands down, as the latter even failed to formulate a somewhat coherent position. Indeed, Johnson is a word-painter but when it comes to particular action, he appears simply weak.
Back then, Johnson's political gain was huge but he swiftly turned it into a cinder and a memory. The Prime Minister was asleep at the wheel when the pandemic began, having missed a number of vital sessions and blown timely lockdown measures, which cost the country thousands of lives. He was fighting for life himself in a London hospital. Meanwhile, godfatherism flourished in the British Cabinet, as millions-strong contracts for the purchase of individual protection means and tests were dished out among acquaintances and friends. Supposedly, Johnson had a chance to reestablish credibility. His government succeeded in purchasing vaccines, and law-abiding Britons were shepherding into queues to get their shots.
However, the fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Late 2021 featured information about parties held at 10 Downing, down to every last detail. While the Britons were ordered to stay at home and observe lockdown measures, Johnson and his subordinates had fun and lifted the elbow, not shackled by convention. People were deeply outraged that Johnson and his men had a hard time stopping even when the country mourned over Queen Elizabeth II’s late spouse Prince Philip, and Her Majesty had to grieve in a protective mask all by herself, keeping a distance from other Royals.
It wasn't even about the Prime Minister’s intemperance. The worst thing was his lying assurances of having always kept within the law. A fine issued to Johnson for celebrating his birthday in the office marked a decisive end to the scandal. £50 is just a dab of money, but the fixed act of wrongdoing helped ascertain the Prime Minister’s deceit. The British Parliament deems this as a mortal sin, for which the offender is deprived of the right to engage in the House meetings. Thus, Johnson made it into history of the United Kingdom as the only prime minister who violated the laws established by himself.
The British media explicitly call Johnson a serial liar for telling tall tales when he wrote for The Times and The Telegraph after graduating from the University of Oxford. Then he lied to his party bosses about his adulterous relationships. During his time as Foreign Minister, Johnson lied about scientifically established Russian origins of the Skripal case poison. On the Brexit issue, Johnson fundamentally betrayed his party colleagues as represented by ex-Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.
Boris Johnson was just shy of Tony Blair, who dragged Britain into the Iraq war under false pretenses. Still, nothing can be ruled out, given his role in the current Ukrainian crisis. And his former closest adviser Dominic Cummings is sure Johnson used Ukraine to protect himself from growing discontent at home, without caring a toss about ordinary Ukrainians.
After Johnson's resignation, the Tories will elect a new leader (this process may take up to two months), who will automatically become Great Britain’s new Prime Minister. The general public has no hand here, and the PM is elected beyond people’s will and control. That's how the British "democratic" rules and laws work.
Despite the economic crisis (inflation alone reached 9.1%), there is at least a dozen of people who crave for the now vacant PM seat. Express polls among the Conservatives reveal the two leading candidates: ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Defense Minister Ben Wallace. In the face of Britain’s economic woes, experts tend to believe Sunak’s chances of success are higher. Anyway, they don’t think the country’s domestic and foreign policy will undergo a dramatic change, including the deeply embedded anti-Russian sentiments.
It stands to reason that Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said the following when asked whether Prime Minister Johnson’s resignation can be considered a sign of his failed anti-Russian rhetoric: "London is exploiting a very baffling political system. Somebody, who has no public support whatsoever, is able to be there at the helm of government. Mister Johnson seems to fall in this category." He also expressed hope that someday Great Britain will be ruled by professional people. "He [Johnson] doesn’t like us, we don’t like him either," Peskov added.
