Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid quit cabinet as PM on the brink
Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid have both sensationally resigned from cabinet, leaving Boris Johnson’s government on the brink of collapsing.
The two resignations may spell the end of Johnson’s premiership as more ministers are now likely to resign in anger with Johnson’s handling of the Chris Pincher sexual misconduct scandal.
Johnson’s chief of staff Steve Barclay has been appointed as health secretary and the PM is scrambling to appoint a new chancellor in a bid to calm financial markets tomorrow morning.
It is understood that foreign secretary Liz Truss, home secretary Priti Patel, housing secretary Michael Gove, justice secretary Dominic Raab, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, culture secretary Nadine Dorries, trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Brexit minister Jacob Rees-Mogg will stick by the beleaguered PM.
Tory party vice chair Bim Afolami has also resigned tonight, which follows the resignation of Tory chair Oliver Dowden two weeks ago.
Jonathan Gullis resigned his role as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Northern Ireland, while Saqib Bhatti MP, a PPS in both the international trade department and health and social care, also quit.
Department for Transport (DfT) and Welsh Office PPS Nicola Richards and Virginia Crosbie followed suit and handed in their resignation.
On Twitter he wrote: “The Conservative party has always been the party of integrity and honour but recent events have undermined trust and standards in public life. It is for this reason that sadly, I must resign.”
Watch the moment he resigned here:
Sunak and Javid’s resignation letters came within minutes of each other and were posted on Twitter just as an interview with the PM was being aired.
Sunak said in his resignation letter that the “public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously”.
“I recognise this might be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning,” he said.
It comes after Number 10 was forced to admit today that Johnson previously knew about official sexual misconduct complaints against Pincher, but still gave him several ministerial jobs.
Just yesterday Johnson’s spokesman said the PM was not aware of any official complaints that were made against the disgraced MP.
Today’s U-turn came after a former top official at the Foreign Office said Number 10 and ministers had been giving out “inaccurate” information and that Johnson had been personally briefed about a sexual misconduct allegation against Pincher.
The latest scandal comes just weeks after Johnson tried to reset his premiership in the wake of the Sue Gray report into partygate and a narrowly won no-confidence vote in his leadership of the Tory party.
Javid said that “I can no longer, in good conscience, continue serving in this government”.
“I am instinctively a team player, but the British people also rightly expect integrity from their government,” he wrote.
“We may not have always been popular, but we have been competent in acting in the national interest. Sadly, in the current circumstances, the public are concluding that we are now neither.
“The vote of no confidence last month showed that a large number of our colleagues agree. It was a moment for humility, grip and a new direction. I regret to say, however, that it is clear to me that the situation will not change under your leadership – and you have therefore lost my confidence too.”
The resignations were announced just as an interview aired where Johnson apologised for putting Pincher into a series of ministerial roles.
More than a dozen claims of sexual misconduct have now been made against Pincher in the days since he was forced to resign as deputy chief whip for allegedly drunkenly groping two men.
“I apologise to everybody who’s been badly affected by it. I just want to make absolutely clear that there’s no place in this government for anybody who is predatory or who abuses their position of power,” Johnson said.
Johnson reportedly just held a meeting of 80 loyalist MPs in Number 10 in a bid to save his premiership.
Guido Fawkes reports he said: “I know you’re all avidly in favour of tax cuts and tonight’s events might make that a bit easier to deliver.”
This evening’s resignations came after a tumultuous day for the Prime Minister, with widespread fury expressed within the Tory party for Number 10’s handling of the Pincher scandal.
It is the latest in a long line of scandals to plague Johnson’s government and has driven even some of his most loyal MPs over the edge.
One senior government source said it felt like cabinet ministers were “millimetres from resigning” this morning as other MPs vented their fury in Westminster.
One major Tory rebel said they were now confident Johnson would be thrown out of office soon, while one backbencher said their views on the scandal were “literally unprintable, because the language I’d use”.
Keir Starmer
Responding to the resignations, the leader of the Labour party said “after all the sleaze, the scandals and the failure, it’s clear that this Government is now collapsing.”
“Tory cabinet ministers have known all along who this Prime Minister is. They have been his cheerleaders throughout this sorry saga. Backing him when he broke the law. Backing him when he lied repeatedly. Backing him when he mocked the sacrifices of the British people.”
“In doing so, they have been complicit every step of the way as he has disgraced his office and let down his country.
Calling for a general election and a “fresh” new start, he said ““if they had a shred of integrity they would have gone months ago.”
“The British public will not be fooled. The Tory party is corrupted and changing one man won’t fix that.
“Only a real change of government can give Britain the fresh start it needs.”