LONDON
\nA defiant British Prime Minister Boris Johnson battled to remain in office Wednesday, shrugging off calls for his resignation after two top ministers and a slew of junior officials said they could no longer serve under his scandal-tarred leadership.
\nMembers of the opposition Labour Party showered Johnson with shouts of \u201cGo! Go!\u2019\u2019 during the weekly ritual of Prime Minister\u2019s Questions in the House of Commons as critics argued the leader\u2019s days were numbered following his poor handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a senior official.
\nBut more damningly, members of Johnson\u2019s own Conservative Party \u2014 wearied by the many scandals he has faced \u2014 also challenged their leader, with one asking whether there was anything that might prompt him to resign.
\n\u201cFrankly \u2026 the job of the prime minister in difficult circumstances, when he\u2019s been handed a colossal mandate, is to keep going,\u2019\u2019 Johnson replied, with the bluster he has used to fend off critics throughout nearly three years in office. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d
\nHis fellow Conservatives listened quietly, but offered little support.
\nJohnson is known for his ability to wiggle out of tight spots, managing to remain in power despite suggestions that he was too close to party donors, protected supporters from bullying and corruption allegations, and misled Parliament about parties in government offices that broke COVID-19 lockdown rules. He hung on even when 41 percent of Conservative lawmakers voted to oust him in a no-confidence vote last month and formerly loyal lieutenants urged him to resign. But recent revelations that Johnson knew about sexual misconduct allegations against a lawmaker before he promoted the man to a senior position in his government have pushed him to the brink.
\nMany of his fellow Conservatives are concerned that Johnson no longer has the moral authority to govern at a time when difficult decisions are needed to address soaring food and energy prices, rising COVID-19 infections and the war in Ukraine. Others worry that a leader renowned for his ability to win elections may now be a liability at the ballot box.
\nFormer Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who helped trigger the current crisis when he resigned Tuesday night, captured the mood of many lawmakers when he said Johnson\u2019s actions threatened to undermine the integrity of the Conservative Party and the British government.
\n\u201cAt some point we have to conclude that enough is enough,\u201d he told fellow lawmakers. \u201cI believe that point is now.\u201d
\nJohnson\u2019s grilling in Parliament was the first of two Wednesday. He was also questioned by a committee of senior lawmakers.
\nHow Johnson handles the questioning may determine whether the simmering rebellion in the Conservative Party gathers enough strength to oust him. Also looming was a meeting of the leadership of a powerful Conservative Party committee \u2014 and action there could signal whether lawmakers have the appetite to pursue another vote of no-confidence.
\nMonths of discontent over Johnson\u2019s judgment and ethics erupted when Javid and Treasury chief Rishi Sunak resigned within minutes of each other on Tuesday evening. The two heavyweights of the Cabinet were responsible for tackling two of the biggest issues facing Britain \u2014 the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
\nIn a scathing letter, Sunak said \u201cthe public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. \u2026 I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.\u201d Javid said the party needed \u201chumility, grip and a new direction\u201d but \u201cit is clear this situation will not change under your leadership.\u201d
\nMindful of the need to shore up confidence, Johnson quickly replaced the ministers, promoting Nadhim Zahawi from the education department to treasury chief and installing his chief of staff, Steve Barclay, as health secretary.
\nBut a string of resignations by more junior members \u2014 from both the moderate and right-wing of the Conservative party \u2014 that followed late Tuesday and early Wednesday underscored the danger to Johnson. Former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said late Tuesday that the prime minister\u2019s time was finally up.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a bit like the death of Rasputin: He\u2019s been poisoned, stabbed, he\u2019s been shot, his body\u2019s been dumped in a freezing river, and still he lives,\u2019\u2019 Mitchell told the BBC. \u201cBut this is an abnormal prime minister, a brilliantly charismatic, very funny, very amusing, big, big character. But I\u2019m afraid he has neither the character nor the temperament to be our prime minister.\u201d
\nThe final straw for Sunak and Javid was the prime minister\u2019s shifting explanations about his handling of allegations against Chris Pincher.
\nLast week, Pincher resigned as Conservative deputy chief whip after complaints he groped two men at a private club. That triggered a series of reports about past allegations leveled against Pincher and questions about what Johnson knew when he tapped Pincher for a senior job enforcing party discipline.
\nJohnson\u2019s office initially said he wasn\u2019t aware of the previous accusations when he promoted Pincher in February. By Monday, a spokesman said Johnson did know of the allegations \u2014 but they were \u201ceither resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint.\u201d
\nWhen a former top civil servant in the Foreign Office contradicted that, saying Johnson was briefed about a 2019 allegation that resulted in a formal complaint, Johnson\u2019s office said the prime minister had forgotten about the briefing.
\nIt was all too much for ministers who have been sent out to defend the government\u2019s position in radio and TV interviews, only to find the story changed within a few hours.
\nBim Afolami, who quit as Conservative Party vice chairman on Tuesday, said he had been willing to give Johnson the benefit of the doubt \u2014 until the Pincher affair.
\n\u201cThe difficulty is not overall the program of the government,\u201d he said. \u201cThe problem is character and integrity in Downing Street, and I think that people in the Conservative Party and people in the country know that.\u201d
\nPaul Drechsler, chair of the International Chamber of Commerce in Britain, said change is needed at the top if the government is going to address a growing economic crisis.
\n\u201cI would say the most important thing to do is to feed people who are hungry,\u2019\u2019 he told the BBC. \u201cThe poorest in our society are going to be starving to death the second half of this year. That needs to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON A defiant British Prime Minister Boris Johnson battled to remain in office Wednesday, shrugging off calls for his resignation after two top ministers and a slew of junior officials said they could no longer serve under his scandal-tarred leadership. Members of the opposition Labour Party showered Johnson with shouts of \u201cGo! Go!\u2019\u2019 during the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[901,1742,4877],"class_list":{"0":"post-270192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-boris-johnson","9":"tag-job","10":"tag-ministers"},"yoast_head":"\n