The cup (of champagne) is full: the “partygate” could get the better of Boris Johnson’s government. In the United Kingdom, fifty-four Conservative MPs announced, by letter, their wish to vote a motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister, from their party. The vote will take place, by secret ballot, on Monday 6 June. If a majority of elected members of his camp vote against a renewal of Parliament’s confidence in him, “BoJo” will be forced to resign.
A forced resignation would be, for Boris Johnson, yet another episode in his political career enamelled with scandals and blunders. The Prime Minister has often been noted for his good nature, but also for his approximations. During the Brexit campaign, he misused the – much disputed – figure of 350 million pounds sterling: it was, according to him, the sum paid by the United Kingdom to the European Union each week.
His terms as mayor of London (2008-2016) also present questionable balance sheets. On the occasion of the holding of the 2012 Olympic Games in the capital, “BoJo” embarked on many projects, some of which cost its constituents dearly even though they did not see the light of day.
This year 2022 could therefore be the year of the curtsey of the Conservative Prime Minister. The Covid-19 pandemic gave rise to “partygate”: in this political affair, Boris Johnson was accused of having taken part in the festivities even though he had imposed confinement and very strict rules on the British population for limit SARS-CoV-2 contamination. In April, he was the first political leader in his country to be fined.
