The Prime Minister said he wanted to stay in place until the appointment of his successor. The designation process promises to be complicated and no personality seems to be unanimous for the moment in the ranks of the Conservative Party.
by
It is noon and a half, Thursday July 7, and the podium has just been installed in front of the 10 Downing Street. Boris Johnson advances quickly, from his characteristic approach – the neck reversed, an air of challenge in the eyes. It has already been almost three hours since the fall of the British Prime Minister was announced by the national media, all await confirmation from him. In five minutes shows in hand, the manager, who has resisted until the end despite dozens of departures within his government, runs. “It is now clear that the conservative parliamentary group wants a new leader. (…) I will stay in office until a new manager is in place.”
The tone is combative but bitter, full of anger back against his own political family. Mr. Johnson, 58, including a thousand seventy-seven days exactly spent in Downing Street, wishes to say “thank you” to the “millions of people who voted for us in 2019 [in the general elections]” and for the “Incredible mandate” they have entrusted to him. He adds – rare personal note – how much it is “sad” to have to give up “the best job in the world” and he denounces the “eccentric” behavior of the elected officials who pushed him at the start, yielding to a “Gregaire instinct “.
Faced with him, television cameras, Downing Street employees who came to support him, just like around thirty conservative deputies – the last square of the faithful – and Carrie Johnson, his young wife, with their little daughter Romy, in Pain a year, in baby carrier. The applause is short, the emotion chosen. The scene has nothing to do with the departure of Theresa May, three years earlier: the leader (2016-2019) had shed a tear when pronouncing her farewells. She too was pushed towards the exit by his elected conservatives, including a certain … Boris Johnson.
“which he leaves as quickly as possible”
This is in any case the relief which dominates, Thursday, in the ranks of the Conservative Party and among political columnists. After weeks and months of scandals, the fall of Boris Johnson was chaotic and without panache, but the institutional crisis seems to have been avoided, the leader finally resolved to his fate and admitting having lost the confidence of his party. However, many concerns remain, some fearing that Mr. Johnson clings too long to his post as an interim prime minister, and calling for his departure – effective – as quickly as possible.
You have 70.19% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.