UK

Why did Boris Johnson resign as prime minister? Timeline of his biggest scandals as he plots comeback

Boris Johnson is flying back from his holiday in the Carribbean after the resignation of prime minister Liz Truss amid rumors he may be about the launch an extraodinary political comeback.

Ms Truss‘s resignation on Thursday after just 44 days in office brought to an end the shortest premiership in British history and one that was marked by economic turmoil and chaotic governance.

Supporters of Mr Johnson are backing the former prime minister to make a new bid for No 10, despite his own premiership being marked by a series of scandals.

Within weeks of taking the top job in July 2019, Mr Johnson put himself on the wrong side of the law by proroguing parliament in order to avoid scrutiny of his Brexit plans.

This set the tone for a messy three years in power where he lurched from scandal to scandal before finally being put out of his misery by Tory MPs after a vote of no confidence in June this year.

If he does choose to stand for the Tory leadership, Mr Johnson is likely to be taking on his former chancellor Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.

Below The Independent has listed the biggest scandals Mr Johnson presided over in three years as prime minister:

The Supreme Court ruled Mr Johnson had unlawfully closed parliament when he prorogued it for the five weeks ahead of a 31 October deadline for Britain leaving the EU.

He was thought to have done so to avoid parliament blocking a no-deal Brexit, which could have led to the deadline being missed after Mr Johnson had pitched himself as the leader who would see Brexit through at any cost.

Parliament reopened a day after and Mr Johnson was forced to ask the EU for a deadline extension.

Mr Johnson was investigated by the police watchdog over his relationship with the American businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri, who has claimed she had an affair with him while he was London mayor.

He was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over reports Ms Arcuri’s tech firm was able to access £25,000 in public funds and that she was allowed onto three overseas trade missions.

The IOPC found that while there was no basis for any criminal charges, Mr Johnson should have declared an interest concerning Ms Arcuri and that his failure to do so may have breached the London Assembly’s code of conduct.

A formal investigation found evidence Mr Johnson’s home secretary Priti Patel had bullied staff in her department and breached the ministerial code, even if unintentionally.

Mr Johnson used this caveat to claim he did not believe the code had been breached and had full confidence in his minister.

Johnson leaves Downing Street on Monday

This led his first ethics adviser, Sir Alex Allan, to quit in disgust.

When his key aide Dominic Cummings travelled hundreds of miles to Barnard Castle at a time when Mr Johnson had ordered everyone in Britain to stay at home, the prime minister went against the howl of public disgust and stuck by his man.

Mr Johnson said he had “regrets” but only about the anger and confusion the public felt over his aide’s 500-mile round trip.

Mr Cummings soon resigned and spent his time outside of politics attacking Mr Johnson, who he likens to a shopping trolley smashing from one side of the aisle to the other” due to his indecisiveness.

Cummings holds press conference in Downing Street rose garden amid scandal

Xural.com

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