British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was faced with yet another crisis as Brexit minister David Frost resigned on Saturday over disillusionment with the direction of his government, dealing a major blow to the embattled leader who may be closer to the end of his term more than ever.
Senior Conservative MPs in the UK now believe that rapidly rising prices and tax increases in the spring, followed by a drubbing for the Tories in May’s local elections, will mark the beginning of the end of Boris Johnson’s premiership, according to reports.
Following a massive rebellion by his backbenchers in the Commons on Tuesday over Covid rules, and a humiliating byelection loss to the Liberal Democrats in the previously safe Conservative seat of North Shropshire two days later, Johnson is being told he has only three to four months to turn things around or risk being deposed, the Guardian has reported.
But what prompted this leadership crisis in the UK, which now faces another impending Covid wave amid the emergence of Omicron, and where is the country headed?
Crushing Byelection Defeat As People Question Johnson’s Covid Response
Johnson’s Conservative Party has suffered a stunning defeat in a parliamentary by-election that was viewed as a referendum on his government amid weeks of scandal and soaring COVID-19 infections.
Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan overturned a Conservative majority of almost 23,000 votes from the last election to win Thursday’s contest in North Shropshire, a rural area of northwest England that has been represented by a Conservative almost continuously since 1832. The election was called after the former Conservative member of Parliament resigned amid a corruption scandal.
The result will heap pressure on Johnson just two years after he was reelected with a seemingly unassailable 80-seat majority in Parliament. But his authority has been dented in recent weeks by allegations that he and his staff attended Christmas parties last year while the country was in lockdown, efforts to shield an ally from allegations of illegal lobbying and suggestions that he improperly accepted donations to fund the lavish refurbishment of his official residence.
Against this backdrop, supporters and opponents are questioning Johnson’s handling of the pandemic after coronavirus infections soared to records this week as the highly transmissible omicron variant swept through the UK.
“Tonight the people of North Shropshire have spoken on behalf of the British people,” Morgan said in her victory speech. “They said loudly and clearly, ‘Boris Johnson, the party is over. Your government, run on lies and bluster, will be held accountable. It will be scrutinized, it will be challenged, and it can and will be defeated.'”
Thursday’s result is the second by-election defeat for the Conservatives this year. In June, the Liberal Democrat Sarah Green won a by-election in Chesham and Amersham, a constituency northwest of London that has been a traditional Conservative stronghold.
Johnson Was Already in Trouble Before Bypoll Loss
The leader said on Friday he took “personal responsibility” for the crushing by-election defeat in a constituency never previously lost by his Conservative party.
“I take personal responsibility,” the embattled Johnson said in a clip for television news, calling the vote in the North Shropshire constituency in central England that handed victory to the Liberal Democrats “very disappointing”.
“In all humility, I’ve got to accept that verdict,” Johnson said, insisting he understood “people’s frustrations” and “what the voters are saying in North Shropshire”.
The 57-year-old was already reeling from a series of scandals and setbacks, including around 100 of his lawmakers rebelling in parliament on Tuesday against the government’s introduction of vaccine passes for large events.
His authority has also been hit repeatedly in recent weeks by claims of corruption and reports that his staff broke coronavirus restrictions last Christmas.
Dogged by controversies
However, Britain is also suffering spiralling inflation as a result of big borrowing during lockdowns, high energy prices and bottlenecked supply chains. Tax rises also loom from next April, which could further irritate the electorate.
Johnson — who won voters’ overwhelming backing in 2019 on his promise to “Get Brexit Done” — has been dogged by controversies for weeks.
It began with his unsuccessful attempt to change parliament’s disciplinary rules to spare MP Owen Paterson a suspension after he was found to have breached lobbying rules.
Paterson, who had held the North Shropshire seat since 1997, then quit, forcing Thursday’s vote.
That crisis, though, was soon eclipsed by reports that Downing Street staff broke Covid rules last year by holding several parties around Christmas — just as the public were told to cancel their festive plans.
In a further episode in the saga, the senior civil servant tasked with investigating the party claims recused himself on Friday following reports of gatherings in his own department.
“To ensure the ongoing investigation retains public confidence the Cabinet Secretary has recused himself for the remainder of the process,” said a statement from Johnson’s Downing Street office.
Johnson became prime minister almost 2½ years ago, riding his support for Brexit and his carefully curated image as a bumbling but likable politician. He solidified his position by calling a snap election just five months later after Parliament rejected the withdrawal agreement he negotiated with the European Union. The Conservatives won 365 seats in the election, 80 more than all the other parties combined.
But Brexit is no longer the central issue in British politics.
Many voters are frustrated after two years of a pandemic that has claimed more than 145,000 lives, triggered a series of lockdowns and battered the economy.
Then there are the scandals and missteps that have made Johnson look more like someone who has lost control than his preferred persona of a slightly disheveled leader who’s so busy he can’t be bothered to comb his hair.
He was forced to apologize last month after trying to change parliamentary rules to avoid censure for Conservative lawmaker Owen Paterson who lobbied government agencies on behalf of companies he worked for. Paterson eventually resigned, triggering the by-election in North Shropshire.
‘Electoral asset’
However, others cautioned that surging Covid infections could buy the prime minister time to turn around his fortunes.
“It doesn’t mean the end, and it certainly doesn’t mean leadership challenges,” said Charles Walker, the vice-chairman of the party’s 1922 Committee, which collates no-confidence letters and manages any leadership contest.
“The Conservative Party is not going to have a leadership challenge as we are heading into potential further restrictions around Covid,” Walker added.
Party chairman Oliver Dowden, also a government minister without portfolio, said North Shropshire’s voters were “fed up and they gave us a kicking” but that “we’ve heard that loud and clear”.
“The prime minister is an electoral asset for the Conservative Party,” he insisted to Sky News.
“On the big calls, (he) has the vision and the direction to get us through this difficult period.”
With inputs from the Associated Press, Reuters, AFP.
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