London: From hosting the 2012 Olympics as mayor in London, Boris Johnson has led the Conservative party in Britain’s ‘Brexit’ campaign to leave the European Union. However, after the Coronavirus epidemic, the methods of dealing with it as prime minister and the parties in a government office in violation of the rules during the lockdown damaged Johnson’s image. Apart from this, he also faced criticism for his handling of allegations of sexual harassment against a senior party MP. The political journey of Boris Johnson went like this:
2001–2008: Johnson represented the Henley seat in Parliament.
2008-2016: Took over as Mayor of London. Hosted the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
2016: Leads as a co-leader in the campaign to leave the UK from the European Union. Johnson ran the campaign against the then Prime Minister and his Conservative Party ally, David Cameron. Cameron resigned from office on 23 June 2016 after voters approved a ‘Brexit’ during a national referendum.
2016-2018: Johnson was Foreign Minister in the Theresa May government, who took over as Prime Minister after Cameron. Later, Johnson resigned from the post in July 2018 in protest of adopting a soft strategy toward ‘Brexit’.
June 7, 2019: Theresa May resigns as leader of the Conservative Party after failing to persuade parliament to withdraw from the Brexit deal.
July 23, 2019: Johnson is elected party leader in a vote by Conservative members, and the next day Johnson is sworn in as Prime Minister of Britain. However, he leads a minority government that relies on the vote of the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland to pass legislation. Johnson insisted that Britain would leave the European Union on 31 October at any cost.
August 28, 2019: Johnson announces that Parliament will be closed until mid-October so that opponents do not have a chance to disrupt the Brexit deal.
September 3, 2019: 21 rebel MPs of the Conservative Party support legislation to extend Brexit talks, after which the rebels are expelled from the party.
September 24, 2019: Britain’s Supreme Court declares the government’s move to suspend Parliament as illegal.
October 19, 2019: Johnson once again urges the EU to postpone Brexit and a new deadline is set for January 31.
November 6, 2019: Parliament is dissolved, and during campaigning in mid-December, Johnson seeks public support for his Brexit strategy.
December 12, 2019: Johnson wins 80 seats in the general election and an absolute majority government is formed. The victory made Johnson the most electorally successful Conservative leader since Margaret Thatcher.
January 23, 2020: After getting approval from the British Parliament, the Brexit agreement becomes law.
March 23, 2020: Johnson announces the first lockdown in the UK in the wake of the Kovid-19 pandemic.
November 3-4, 2021: Johnson’s government orders Conservative lawmakers to support a change in ethics rules to avert Owen Paterson’s suspension. Patterson was a supporter of Johnson, who faced criticism for violating the ‘lobbying’ rules. Rule passed. A day later, Johnson allowed lawmakers to vote on Patterson’s suspension after lawmakers from all parties expressed outrage. Patterson resigned.
November 30, 2021: It is alleged that the officials held parties in government offices during November and December 2020 in violation of the Kovid-19 lockdown rules. In this case, termed ‘Partygate’, it was alleged that more than a dozen parties were held in violation of the lockdown. Johnson dismissed the allegations, however, the opposition criticized the government.
December 8, 2021: Johnson approves investigation into the Partygate case. Johnson was pressured to step down.
April 12, 2022: Johnson was fined £50 for attending a party during the lockdown. Johnson apologized but said he was not aware that he was breaking the rules.
May 26, 2022: Government withdraws its decision regarding tax on oil and gas companies.
June 6, 2022: Johnson wins the trust vote by a narrow margin. His hold on power weakened.
June 30, 2022: Chris Pincher resigns as Deputy Chief Whip of the Conservative Party following allegations of assault on two guests at a London club. Pincher was also accused of sexual harassment in the past. The question arose as to whether Johnson was aware of the allegations at the time Pincher was assigned.
July 5, 2020: Johnson apologizes for the way he handled the Pincher case. Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, the two most senior ministers in the Johnson government, resigned.
July 6, 2022: About three dozen junior ministers resign from their posts. targeted Johnson’s leadership.
July 7, 2022: Johnson agrees to resign as leader and prime minister of the Conservative Party.
