ByAFP
June 11, 2023
Boris Johnson announced on Friday he was leaving as a member of parliament - Copyright AFP/File Benson Ibeabuchi
UK opposition leader Keir Starmer on Sunday demanded a general election as three MPs from the ruling Conservative Party, including Boris Johnson, quit parliament following a probe into Covid lockdown-breaking parties.
Labour leader Starmer tweeted that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “must finally find a backbone, call an election, and let the public have their say on 13 years of Tory failure.
“This farce must stop. People have had enough of a shambolic Tory government and a weak prime minister no one voted for.”
Johnson announced on Friday he was leaving as a member of parliament, claiming he had been forced out in a stitch-up by his political opponents.
The 58-year-old Johnson has been under investigation by a cross-party committee about whether he deliberately lied to parliament over parties when he was in office.
As the committee prepares to make public its findings, Johnson said they had contacted him “making it clear… they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament”.
By quitting, Johnson avoids the consequences of a humiliating fight to remain an MP in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency in northwest London where he holds a slim majority of just over 7,000.
He denounced the committee, chaired by veteran opposition Labour MP Harriet Harman, as a “kangaroo court”.
“It is very sad to be leaving Parliament — at least for now — but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically… with such egregious bias,” he said.
Nadine Dorries, one of Johnson’s allies quit on Friday, while another, Nigel Adams, resigned on Saturday, triggering three by-elections for a government languishing in the polls.
Speculation is rife about Johnson’s next move, and whether he will attempt to run to become an MP again at the next general election, due next year.
Influential Johnson supporter Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote in the Mail on Sunday that said the former Tory leader could “easily get back into parliament at the next election.”
He also warned party officials against blocking such a bid, saying it would “shatter our fragile party unity and plunge the Conservatives into civil war.”
Sunak was finance minister under Johnson, and it was his resignation that ultimately triggered his then boss’s demise.
The party is still divided as a result, but had recently arrived at an uneasy truce that now looks to be under serious threat.
Boris Johnson announced on Friday he was leaving as a member of parliament - Copyright AFP/File Benson Ibeabuchi
UK opposition leader Keir Starmer on Sunday demanded a general election as three MPs from the ruling Conservative Party, including Boris Johnson, quit parliament following a probe into Covid lockdown-breaking parties.
Labour leader Starmer tweeted that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “must finally find a backbone, call an election, and let the public have their say on 13 years of Tory failure.
“This farce must stop. People have had enough of a shambolic Tory government and a weak prime minister no one voted for.”
Johnson announced on Friday he was leaving as a member of parliament, claiming he had been forced out in a stitch-up by his political opponents.
The 58-year-old Johnson has been under investigation by a cross-party committee about whether he deliberately lied to parliament over parties when he was in office.
As the committee prepares to make public its findings, Johnson said they had contacted him “making it clear… they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament”.
By quitting, Johnson avoids the consequences of a humiliating fight to remain an MP in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency in northwest London where he holds a slim majority of just over 7,000.
He denounced the committee, chaired by veteran opposition Labour MP Harriet Harman, as a “kangaroo court”.
“It is very sad to be leaving Parliament — at least for now — but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically… with such egregious bias,” he said.
Nadine Dorries, one of Johnson’s allies quit on Friday, while another, Nigel Adams, resigned on Saturday, triggering three by-elections for a government languishing in the polls.
Speculation is rife about Johnson’s next move, and whether he will attempt to run to become an MP again at the next general election, due next year.
Influential Johnson supporter Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote in the Mail on Sunday that said the former Tory leader could “easily get back into parliament at the next election.”
He also warned party officials against blocking such a bid, saying it would “shatter our fragile party unity and plunge the Conservatives into civil war.”
Sunak was finance minister under Johnson, and it was his resignation that ultimately triggered his then boss’s demise.
The party is still divided as a result, but had recently arrived at an uneasy truce that now looks to be under serious threat.
Rishi Sunak urged to call snap election after three MPs quit in just 24 hours
Sir Keir Starmer and Si Ed Davey have both called for a snap general election
By Matthew Mohan-Hickson
Published 11th Jun 2023,
Rishi Sunak has been urged to call a snap general election after three quick-fire MP resignations left the Prime Minister facing by-election battles on multiple fronts.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Sunak “must finally find a backbone” and send the country to the polls after the Prime Minister found himself three MPs down in the space of 24 hours. The call was echoed by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey as rival parties hope to inflict more damaging by-election defeats on the Tories.
Nigel Adams on Saturday (10 June) became the latest to announce he would be quitting as an MP with “immediate effect”. An ally of Boris Johnson, he followed the former prime minister and former culture secretary Nadine Dorries in departing the green benches.
Adams and Dorries had been tipped for peerages in Johnson’s resignation honours but neither featured in the published list.
When will the next general election take place?
If Rishi Sunak resists the calls for a snap election from Starmer and Davey, it could be another year before the country heads to the polls. General elections are usually held every five years.
Sir Keir Starmer and Si Ed Davey have both called for a snap general election
By Matthew Mohan-Hickson
Published 11th Jun 2023,
Rishi Sunak has been urged to call a snap general election after three quick-fire MP resignations left the Prime Minister facing by-election battles on multiple fronts.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Sunak “must finally find a backbone” and send the country to the polls after the Prime Minister found himself three MPs down in the space of 24 hours. The call was echoed by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey as rival parties hope to inflict more damaging by-election defeats on the Tories.
Nigel Adams on Saturday (10 June) became the latest to announce he would be quitting as an MP with “immediate effect”. An ally of Boris Johnson, he followed the former prime minister and former culture secretary Nadine Dorries in departing the green benches.
Adams and Dorries had been tipped for peerages in Johnson’s resignation honours but neither featured in the published list.
When will the next general election take place?
If Rishi Sunak resists the calls for a snap election from Starmer and Davey, it could be another year before the country heads to the polls. General elections are usually held every five years.
Boris Johnson resigns as MP with immediate effect as he blasts Commons partygate investigation
However both of the most recent elections were snap ones - in 2017 and 2019 - and were called by Conservative leaders who had taken over leadership mid-term (in Theresa May and Boris Johnson).
Currently, the next general election is scheduled to take place in 2024 - but a date has not been confirmed and will not be untll much closer to the time. In the UK, general elections are traditionally held on a Thursday, normally the last Thursday in May - although a winter election was held in 2019.
However both of the most recent elections were snap ones - in 2017 and 2019 - and were called by Conservative leaders who had taken over leadership mid-term (in Theresa May and Boris Johnson).
Currently, the next general election is scheduled to take place in 2024 - but a date has not been confirmed and will not be untll much closer to the time. In the UK, general elections are traditionally held on a Thursday, normally the last Thursday in May - although a winter election was held in 2019.
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