Boris Johnson told by liaison committee that delegation of cabinet ministers is waiting in Downing Street to tell him to go – live
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Key events:
A summary of today’s developments
Attorney general joins calls for Johnson to resign
Edward Argar becomes latest minister to resign
Welsh secretary hands in resignation
Running total – 43 departures
James Daly MP resigns as parliamentary private secretary
Johnson to make ‘major appointments’ to government tonight, ally claims
Danny Kruger resigns as PPS to levelling up department, saying Johnson – not Gove – should go
Gove sacked for disloyalty, No 10 sources claim
Johnson sacks Gove as levelling up secretary
‘Buoyant’ Johnson determined to ‘fight on’ and planning economic announcement together, ally says
How credible are Johnson’s arguments to Tory MPs as to why he should stay
Priti Patel urges PM to go
Further cabinet resignations possible as Johnson tells colleagues he won’t quit
Johnson reportedly refusing to resign, suggesting his departure might be followed by early election and Tory defeat
PPS resignations continue
Labour says committee hearings for legislation being cancelled because too many ministers have resigned
Ruth Edwards resigns as PPS to Scottish secretary, accusing government of turning ‘blind eye to allegations of sexual assault’
Conservative 1922 Committee decides not to change leadership election rules for now
Patel arrives at No 10 as evidence grows that cabinet ministers are mobilising to oust Johnson
Johnson eventually rules out calling election if he loses no confidence vote as Tory leader
Johnson is told cabinet ministers are waiting for him at No 10 to tell him to quit
Group of cabinet ministers reportedly now calling on PM to resign
Johnson says early election won’t happen – but also hints it could be justified if MPs blocked PM with mandate
Mike Freer resigns as minister for exports and equalities, saying government ‘creating atmosphere of hostility for LGBT+ people’
Johnson fails to deny report saying Gove asked him to resign
Tory whips can’t find backbenchers to fill vacant ministerial posts, MPs say
Johnson dismisses claims he won’t be able to replace resigning ministers, saying there is ‘wealth of talent’ in party
Rachel Maclean resigns as safeguarding minister, saying ‘values, principles, integrity and decency matter more than anything’
Craig Williams resigns as PPS, saying rebuilding trust now ‘impossible’ for Johnson
Duncan Baker resigns as PPS to levelling up department saying he does not have confidence in PM
Boris Johnson gives evidence to Commons liaison commtitee
Why it is now looking terminal for Boris Johnson
Mims Davies resigns as employment minister, saying Johnson has failed to uphold ‘highest standards in public life’
Gove told Johnson this morning he should quit, report claims
Badenoch, O’Brien, Burghart, Rowley and Lopez all quit as ministers in joint resignation
Former cabinet minister Robert Jenrick says Johnson should quit because he is failing to provide ‘grip and direction’
David Johnston resigns as PPS to education department, saying Johnson cannot provide country with leadership it needs
Claire Coutinho resigns as PPS to Treasury team, saying ‘events of recent weeks’ are distraction
Selaine Saxby resigns as PPS to George Eustice, saying ‘trust, truth and integrity’ are vital in politics
PMQs and Sajid Javid’s resignation statement – snap verdict
Stuart Andrew resigns as housing minister, saying Tories should not have to ‘defend the indefensible’
Javid says: ‘The problem starts at the top and that is not going to change’
Javid says ‘treading tightrope between loyalty and integrity’ became impossible
Sajid Javid’s personal statement
Johnson privately criticised Tory MPs at Carlton Club for not stopping Pincher from drinking too much, MP reveals
Johnson says he intends to ‘hang on in there’
Johnson vows to ‘keep going’ despite calls to quit
Jo Churchill resigns as environment minister, criticising Johnson’s ‘jocular, self-serving’ approach to leadership
Starmer dismisses resigning Tories as ‘charge of the lightweight brigade’ and says ministers left are ‘Z-list of nodding dogs’
PMQs
Victoria Atkins resigns as Home Office minister, saying ‘integrity, decency, respect and professionalism’ should matter
Tory MP Tom Hunt says after backing PM in first confidence vote he now wants him to quit
Felicity Buchan resigns as PPS saying Johnson’s position ‘untenable’
John Glen resigns as Treasury minister, saying he has ‘complete lack of confidence’ in Johnson’s leadership
Tory MP Chris Skidmore says PM should quit, saying handling of Pincher scandal ‘tantamount to cover-up of sexual abuse’
Tory MP Lee Anderson says he can no longer back Johnson, arguing ‘integrity should always come first’
Tory MP Robert Halfon says he now favours leadership change, saying there has been ‘real loss of integrity’
Robin Walker resigns as schools minister, saying he no longer has faith in PM’s leadership
Will Quince resigns as minister, saying he had ‘no choice’ after using false information from No 10 in interviews
Laura Trott resigns as PPS in transport department, saying trust in politics ‘of upmost importance’
What have Johnson’s political opponents said?
Analysis: PM limps on, but for how long?
Zahawi denies threatening to quit if not appointed chancellor
Who resigned last night, and who replaced them?
Boris Johnson fighting for political future
Show key events only
Last night Robert Largan, the Tory MP for the highly marginal High Peak in Derbyshire, who was first elected in 2019, tweeted a photograph from a Jimmy Eat World gig with the caption: “If not now, when?”
It’s a line from a Jimmy Eat World song called For Me This is Heaven, but in the context it may also provide some insight into Largan’s view on Johnson’s position.
Updated at 09.19 EDT
Former cabinet minister Robert Jenrick says Johnson should quit because he is failing to provide ‘grip and direction’
Robert Jenrick, the former communities secretary, has declared that he now wants Boris Johnson to quit. Jenrick was sacked by Johnson last autumn, but since then he has continued to be reasonably loyal in public. Now, in a post on his Facebook page, he says Johnson is failing to provide “the coherence, grip and direction that the country needs”. He says:
I have always wanted the prime minister to succeed and I gave him every opportunity to do so. However, it has become painfully clear that we are failing to provide the coherence, grip and direction that the country needs and deserves in these challenging times. I have found it difficult to support the ever-rising tax burden and the government’s failure to deliver essential reforms to our economy and public services, not least the abdication of responsibility to tackle the housing crisis for the benefit of future generations.
More fundamentally there has been a significant and I fear irretrievable loss of trust with the public, confirmed by the mishandling of serious allegations in recent days. If we continue along our present path we risk doing lasting damage to the reputation of the Conservative party for competence and good government and, more importantly, to the standing of politics generally.
I can no longer, in all good conscience, support this.
Jenrick also says he has written to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee, saying the party needs a new leader.
In 2019 Johnson’s leadership campaign received a significant boost when Jenrick, Rishi Sunak and Oliver Dowden wrote a joint article for the Times saying only Johnson as leader could save the party from the “deep peril” it was in. The article was influential because all three were seen as rising stars in the parliamentary party, and none of them were obvious Johnsonites.
Now all three have abandoned him.
Updated at 09.47 EDT
David Johnston resigns as PPS to education department, saying Johnson cannot provide country with leadership it needs
David Johnston has resigned as a PPS to the education department. In a post on his Facebook page, he says he does not think Boris Johnson can provide the country with the leadership it needs.
I have said in the House of Commons and elsewhere that as elected politicians we are the custodians of politics. We should uphold the highest standards and act in a way that is best for the country. We should also consider the politicians who will come after us. It is very important to me that we do all we can to encourage good people into politics so that the country is well served, but events in recent months have made the view of politics and politicians worse and will only put more people off entering it, which I deeply regret.
I know from my inbox that there are different views about the prime minister, but I do not believe he can provide the leadership the country needs. I hope those who disagree with this nonetheless understand why I have taken the decision I have. As ever, my main focus will remain trying to be as good a constituency MP as I can be.
Updated at 08.56 EDT
Claire Coutinho resigns as PPS to Treasury team, saying ‘events of recent weeks’ are distraction
And Claire Coutinho has resigned as PPS to the Treasury team. In a post on her Facebook page, she says:
I firmly believe that what we need now, as we deal with the twin challenges of war in Europe and global inflation, is a laser-like grip on reforming our public services so that they work better for our constituents and focus on charting a path to prosperity through what is an increasingly challenging global outlook.
I think the events of recent weeks and months are preventing us from doing that.
Updated at 08.52 EDT
Selaine Saxby resigns as PPS to George Eustice, saying ‘trust, truth and integrity’ are vital in politics
Selaine Saxby has resigned as PPS (parliamentary private secretary) to George Eustice, the environment secretary, saying “trust, truth and integrity” are vital in politics.
Updated at 08.43 EDT
The full text of Sajid Javid’s resignation statement to the Commons is now on his website.
Updated at 08.52 EDT
PMQs and Sajid Javid’s resignation statement – snap verdict
Collectively, PMQs and Sajid Javid’s resignation statement were not only as bad for Boris Johnson as might have been expected, but if anything quite a lot worse. Last night, after the resignations of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, it felt as if Johnson had entered the terminal phase of his premiership, but that the end point might not be immediate. Now, in the light of the escalating resignations and the 1922 Committee manoeuvrings (see 11.43pm), the pace seems to be quickening.
Keir Starmer put in one of his best performances against Johnson. He is often at his most effective when speaking as a former DPP, and he was more aggressive with Johnson over the Chris Pincher scandal than might have been expected, presenting this not as an issue of competence or honesty, but as a scandal about No 10 enabling a sexual predator. He also had some good zingers to hand too (eg “charge of the lightweight brigade”). Johnson never really came back from the ropes, and it was striking how his reliance on the usual CCHQ talking points (Corbyn, Brexit, the nuclear deterrent) fell very flat. Watching on TV you cannot judge noise levels in the chamber effectively, but colleagues who were in the press gallery says the silence from those who would normally support the PM was striking.
Sajid Javid is a less polished Commons speaker than Starmer, but his speech, while not quite Geoffrey Howe, was well above damp squib (unlike his last resignation statement). Interestingly, he accused people “at the highest level” in Johnson’s team of lying to him over Partygate. It is hard to say what impact the speech will have on Johnson’s hopes of remaining in office, but it is probably better seen as the opening shot in Javid’s campaign for the Tory leadership, and in this respect it was an undoubted success. He reminded colleagues of the prejudice and disadvantage he has faced throughout his life, briefly but movingly.
Despite what it may seem, I have never been one of life’s quitters.
I didn’t quit when I was told that boys like me didn’t do maths.
I didn’t quit when old school bankers said I didn’t have the right school ties.
I didn’t quit when people in my community told me I couldn’t marry the love of my life.
And he delivered a rebuke to ministers who have not resigned, telling MPs:
I have concluded that the problem starts at the top and I believe that is not going to change and that means that it is for those of us in a position who have responsibility to make that change.
I wish my cabinet colleagues well and I can see they have decided to remain in the cabinet. They will have their own reasons but it is a choice. I know just how difficult that choice is but let’s be clear; not doing something is an active decision.
Many in the Conservative party are fixed on the notion that, in a party leadership contest, “he who wields the knife never wears the crown”. Like much of what passes for Tory collective wisdom, this references back to Margaret Thatcher. But it might be less true than people assume.
The most devastating intervention during the session was an unexpected one. During PMQs the Tory MP Gary Sambrook said that yesterday in the Commons tearoom Johnson told colleagues “there were seven people, MPs, in the Carlton Club last week and one of them should have tried to intervene to stop Chris [Pincher] from drinking so much”. Sambook went on:
As if that wasn’t insulting enough to the people who did try and intervene that night. And then also to the victims that drink was the problem.
Isn’t it the example that the prime minister constantly tries to deflect from the issue, always tries to blame other people for mistakes, and that there is nothing left for him to do other than to take responsibility and resign?
This seemed to sum up the problem in a nutshell. And it explains why support for Johnson is draining away.
Updated at 08.55 EDT
Stuart Andrew resigns as housing minister, saying Tories should not have to ‘defend the indefensible’
Stuart Andrew has resigned as housing minister, saying Tories should not have to “defend the indefensible”.
Javid says: ‘The problem starts at the top and that is not going to change’
Javid says when the first Partygate stories emerged last year he was personally assured, at the highest level, by Johnson’s team that there were no parties in No 10.
He gave interviews where he said that, he says.
He says there has been further evidence of No 10 not being truthful.
You reach a point where “enough is enough”, he says.
He says he welcomes Johnson’s apology last night.
But the reset button can only be pressed so many times. He says something at the top is fundamentally wrong.
I fear that the reset button can only work so many times. There’s only so many times you can turn that machine on and off before you realise something is fundamentally wrong
The problem starts at the top and that is not going to change.
He gave the PM one last chance, but now he has had enough, he says.
He says ministerial colleagues will have their own reasons for staying. He goes on:
But let’s be clear; not doing something is an active decision.
He suggest Johnson’s leadership will damage the reputation of the party in the future.
He says he has been dismayed by the stories of harassment in parliament.
He says he came into politics to do something, not to be someone. If he can continue to contribute from the backbenches, he will.
That’s it. He’s finished.
Updated at 08.08 EDT
Javid says ‘treading tightrope between loyalty and integrity’ became impossible
Javid says there is “so much” long-term reform he planned for health. It was a wrench to leave it behind.
Today he wants to talk about the importance of integrity. Institutions and integrity underpin our democracy. He says he thinks all MPs are motivated by the national interest.
The public expect politicians to maintain honesty and integrity, he says.
MPs “must bring the country together as one nation”.
Javid says he is instinctively a team player.
But treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has become impossible in recent months. And I will never risk losing my integrity.
Updated at 07.46 EDT