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A scandal: Not only for Boris Johnson

By Elham Abedini

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who, until 24 earlier, would decisively assert that he would not submit his resignation, was eventually forced to cede power after 51 members of the government, including notable personalities, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, handed in their resignations. A few hours before stepping down, Johnson had even shown the door to Secretary of State for Leveling Up, Housing, and Communities, Michael Gove, who had predicted that the prime minister would not be able to keep his job. It looks like Johnson had assumed that he would be able to get off the hook this time around too, like he had over the recent several months. This time, however, the circumstances were different. Of course, Johnson would have to stay in office until a new leader is determined for the Conservative Party.

Who was Johnson?

Johnson used to serve as the mayor of the country’s capital during the years when the country was dealing with the issue of the Brexit referendum. He earned reputation as one of the main elements of the Brexit campaign’s victory as a result of his throwing extensive support behind the campaign and siding with such personalities as Nigel Farage. After this, Theresa May appointed him as the foreign secretary. His keen support for the Brexit campaign and his winning reputation for his anti-immigrant stance, created hardline supporters and opponents for him, especially among the Labour Party’s members.

Johnson’s political career was full of ups and downs. During his career, he was asked to resign many times for different reasons. For instance, during his term as the foreign secretary, he alleged that Nazanin Zaghari, who was in prison at the time in Iran, had been engaged in teaching journalism in the Islamic Republic. This prompted much criticism and commotion. Eventually, he resigned in protest at May’s performance concerning the Brexit, and later became prime minister himself.

Johnson is the third prime minister to submit his resignation since the Brexit referendum. It looks like there is no end to the British premiers’ bad luck streak.

By passing such remarks as his comparing Burqa-wearing women to letter boxes and his decision to send migrants to Rwanda, Johnson worked up an anti-immigrant and xenophobic image for himself.

Criticism of Johnson came to a head after the “partygate” scandal broke. The scandal developed after it became known that Johnson had broken the rules by attending parties during the coronovirus lockdown days. The situation worsened to the extent that a couple of weeks ago, he was faced with a confidence vote, which he survived and remained in office. Accusations of sexual misconduct against Chris Pincher, deputy chief whip, however, rekindled the flames of criticism against Johnson. Prior to Pincher, five other Tory MPs had likewise been faced with accusations of sexual misconduct. These include Neil Parish’s watching pornography during a House of Commons’ session, accusations of sexual assault against a minor against Imran Ahmad Khan, and David Warburton’s sexual harassment of women. Last month too, another Tory MP, whose name was not revealed, was arrested for sexual assault. Conservative MP Rob Roberts was also faced with accusations of sexual harassment of a colleague. All these faced Johnson, who admitted that he knew about the claims laid against Pincher, but approved his appointment anyway, with accusations of failure to confront moral turpitude.

The fallout from Johnson’s resignation

During the war in Ukraine, the UK sided with the ex-Soviet republic alongside the United States and provided it with financial and military aid. Johnson was the first foreign leader to travel to Ukraine and meet with President Zelensky after the war started. So, one of the first repercussions from Johnson’s resignation would manifest itself in the case of the war. Given the serious financial crisis that has come to face the UK, Johnson’s finance ministers, including Sunak, had repeatedly warned that Britain’s domestic circumstances and economy have to be addressed too beside the support that the country chooses to provides for Ukraine.

Secondly, Boris Johnson’s resignation translates into the departure of one of the country’s main symbols of Islamophobia and opposition to immigration. Although, a major part of such policies are organized and deep-seated [across the UKs politics], Johnson’s resignation would probably calm down the tense atmosphere that has been facing the immigrants and racial and religious minorities in the country.

The third aftereffect of Johnson’s resignation concerns the issue of Scotland’s demand to hold an independence referendum. Johnson is one of the serious opponents of such vote. He turned down the Scottish first minister’s request for the vote during his last hours in office. Johnson’s departure will likely pave the way for the Scottish independence vote and facilitate expansion of the activities of Northern Ireland’s Sinn Fein, which is likewise after extending the sphere of its activities and even secession.

The final upshot of Johnson’s departure concerns the issue of Brexit. Johnson was, to a large extent, a supporter of a hard Brexit, meaning Britain’s maximal and expeditious separation from the European Union. Therefore, his resignation could create hopes in Brussels and Northern Ireland that the Northern Ireland Protocol would not be annulled and a hard border is not created between the Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Johnson’s government had stated that it sought to annul a large part of the Protocol as part of the conflict between Britain and the EU over custom regulations.

Johnson’s likely replacements

Rishi Sunak is the most serious candidate for premiership after Johnson. He was Johnson’s chancellor of the exchequer, whose resignation on Tuesday set off a series of departures from his government. Of course, Britain’s recent economic crises have reduced Sunak’s popularity among the British public.

Sajid Javid, Johnson’s health minister, who previously used to be in charge of the Home Office, is another candidate. He submitted his resignation together with Sunak. He had likewise said in his resignation letter that he no longer trusted Boris Johnson as the party leader.

Ben Wallace, Johnson’s defense secretary, is another likely replacement. Together with Johnson, Wallace was one of the most serious proponents of support for Ukraine’s Zelensky.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is yet another candidate for Johnson’s replacement. As the secretary of state for international trade, Truss played a major role in conclusion of free trade deals with Eastern Asian countries, such as Japan, and was a main proponents of the “International Britain” idea, which encourages Britain to find new partners across the world and reclaim its important position in the international system.

Other candidates include Penny Mordant and Jeremy Hunt. Hunt, a former health secretary, was one of Johnson’s competitors in the premiership race, who eventually ceded the battlefield to him.

Elham Abedini is a PhD student in European Studies.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)


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