LONDON (Washington Insider Magazine) – The Boris Johnson administration’s self-destruction was dramatic. The United Kingdom must now pick itself up, sift through the debris, and determine what to do next.
Johnson had been expected to have a long political career after sweeping to a resounding electoral win in 2019. However, things have taken a stunning turn for the worst for Johnson. Instead, everything has fallen apart amid scandal and blame, with his own party rising up in revolt.
Britain now seeks a new leader, but it is far from clear how it will do so. The 68 million citizens of the nation elect its prime ministers indirectly through the party that wins the most seats in the legislature during the general election. That is now represented by the Conservative Party, which won the most votes in the last election.
Johnson’s replacement will be selected, as he was in 2019, by a postal vote among the party’s 180,000 or so members and then by fellow MPs who will narrow the contenders down to a final showdown between the two. Another general election won’t be held in the nation until 2025.
According to a timeline established by the secretive 1922 Committee, which represents “backbench” legislators who are not employed by the government, the procedure will probably take many weeks.
But the debate surrounding Johnson’s departure has really originated there. In his address on Thursday, he stated that he intended to remain in office until a replacement had been picked. However, several of his Conservative peers and the opposition Labour Party want him out immediately.
Soon after, former Conservative Prime Minister John Major sent a letter to party officials urging Johnson to resign immediately for the good of the nation as a whole. Keir Starmer, the head of the Labour Party, told NBC News’ British affiliate Sky News that he opposed the notion of hanging on for a few more months.
Labour has threatened to seek a confidence vote in the House of Commons, another way for removing leaders, if Johnson does attempt to hold on. Johnson would be expected to dissolve Parliament and call a general election if he lost the vote, which would reshuffle the whole parliamentary delegation and force Johnson to start again.
There were suggestions that Johnson may have attempted to call a general election himself in a final act of desperation. But to do that, he would have to request that Queen Elizabeth II dissolve Parliament.
A constitutional crisis may have resulted from putting the unelected, apolitical queen in charge of making political decisions.
In British politics, a prime minister serving as a custodian during a leadership election is not unusual. Theresa May, Johnson’s immediate predecessor, followed suit. But the fact that many of his colleagues worry about the mayhem he may cause in the meantime says a lot about how little faith they have in him.
Currently, there isn’t much the party can do to remove its leader from office because he already withstood one challenge from them last month, although barely. He is therefore protected against such attempts for the ensuing 12 months. To allow for a second effort to remove the party’s obstinate leader, there are now proposals to change the Conservatives’ own rules.
Johnson’s party would have to choose a temporary substitute to tide the nation over until a stable replacement is elected if Johnson loses another party ballot and is ousted.
After the 2016 Brexit decision to exit the European Union, the instability that led to Johnson’s declaration is only the most recent earthquake to shake this fractured nation.
There will probably be a leadership election at some time. Before they even begin their first term after Brexit, it would be the third contest in a row to decide who would head the Conservative Party and subsequently the nation as prime minister.
Ben Wallace, the defense secretary, has gained more notoriety as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is now the front-runner among Conservative Party members to take over as leader. In addition, that crisis gave Foreign Secretary Liz Truss the chance to project a strong worldwide presence and assume leadership roles.
Rishi Sunak, the finance minister, was the early frontrunner to succeed the current president. However, his standing among party members has plummeted as a result of a number of controversial economic measures and information that his multimillionaire wife wasn’t paying British taxes.
The first two prominent Cabinet ministers to submit their resignations Tuesday night were Sunak and Sajid Javid, the health secretary, essentially putting their hats into the ring. Priti Patel, a rigid Home Secretary who oversees immigration, policing, and terrorism, and the more liberal former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt are further candidates.
If Johnson remains around when a replacement is chosen, he will go visit the queen and formally submit his resignation. Then, after her 70-year rule, the 15th prime minister would assume office.
