The scandals that ended Boris Johnson’s prime ministership

Boris Johnson will announce his resignation as British prime minister today, a government source said, following a mass resignation of ministers and MPs from his Conservative Party who said he was no longer fit to govern.

After days of fighting to stay in office, Johnson has lost the support of nearly all of his allies after a series of recent scandals have made them reluctant to continue supporting him.

These are the biggest scandals that have rocked Johnson’s premiership, according to Reuters.

The “Pincher Affair”

The mass resignations from the administration this week followed accusations by a senior former staffer that Johnson’s office gave false information about allegations of past sexual harassment by lawmaker Christopher Pincher.

In February, Johnson appointed Pincher as deputy party leader, and last week Pincher was suspended from the party after admitting he had made other people feel uncomfortable during a drunken night out. Following this incident, it came to light that Pincher had previously been the subject of sexual harassment allegations.

Johnson’s office initially said the prime minister was unaware of specific past allegations against Pincher. But on Monday, former senior official Simon MacDonald wrote a letter saying he had investigated the allegations in 2019 and accepted the complaints.

Partygate

The term “Partygate” was coined to refer to a scandal over parties held in government, including in Johnson’s own Downing Street office, which were found to have breached strict rules against COVID-19.

Johnson himself was fined by police for attending a birthday party, and was forced to apologize to Queen Elizabeth after it emerged that staff had partied in Downing Street on the eve of her husband Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.

A report by a senior official gave an account of a series of illegal “crown parties,” detailing cases of excessive drinking by staff.

Parliament is still investigating whether Johnson repeatedly misled MPs when he denied knowing about the illegal parties. Johnson says he honestly believed at the time that the rallies weren’t breaking the law, but now admits he was wrong.

Further sex scandals

The Conservatives have also been hit by other scandals involving MPs accused of sexual harassment, including two that led to MPs resigning. In both cases, the Conservatives lost special elections held last month to replace them.

Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan has resigned after being found guilty of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy. Neil Parish, another Tory MP, resigned after admitting he twice watched pornography on his phone in the House of Commons in “a moment of madness”.

Another conservative MP was arrested on suspicion of rape, sexual assault and other offences. The MP was released on bail in May and has not been named in the media to protect the identity of the alleged victim.

Owen Paterson case

Last year, parliament’s standards committee recommended that Conservative MP and former minister Owen Paterson be suspended for 30 days after it found he had lobbied on behalf of companies that funded him.

The Conservatives initially voted in parliament to end Paterson’s suspension and overhaul the process of investigating MPs. After damaging headlines, Paterson resigned and the government abandoned the proposed changes. The Conservatives lost the election to fill Patterson’s seat.

Johnson’s apartment renovation

After Johnson’s Downing Street apartment was renovated by a famous designer, Britain’s electoral commission fined the Conservatives £17,800 for not accurately reporting a donation to pay for it.

Johnson’s ethics adviser later criticized the prime minister for not disclosing some of the messages he exchanged with the donor. However, he concluded that Johnson had not deliberately lied about the messages.