One month ago today, after surviving a confidence by his fellow Tory MPs over the Partygate scandal, I asked if U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will still be residing at Number 10 Downing Street by the end of 2022.
It might turn out a more apt question would be if Johnson is still PM in a week from now, never mind the end of 2022. More than 40 ministers and aides have resigned from the government including three members of the cabinet over the past 24 hours amid revelations that Johnson had been aware of sexual misconduct allegations against former Deputy Whip Chris Pincher after repeatedly denying any knowledge. Pincher resigned last week and was subsequently suspended from the Tories after he had groped two men at a party.
Despite the resignations, Johnson vows to go on citing the "colossal mandate" he was given in the 2019 election which saw the Tories gain nearly 50 seats much of which came at the expense of the Labour Party. But Labour is no longer led by Jeremy Corbyn and Johnson has frittered away the confidence of not only the Tories, but the voting public which gave him a colossal mandate and now views him as a colossal headache.
Yet if we have learned anything it is not to underestimate Boris Johnson. He cannot be counted out entirely. Still, it is difficult to see how he can make it until the next election which is to be held no later than January 2025 much less the remainder of the year and now possibly the rest of this week.
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