Premiership of Boris Johnson

rdf:langString Premiership of Boris Johnson

rdf:langString Premiership of Boris Johnson

rdf:langString right

rdf:langString medic

rdf:langString Official portrait, 2019

rdf:langString Unsigned letter from Boris Johnson requesting an extension

rdf:langString Sajid Javid resigned as Chancellor and was replaced by Rishi Sunak

rdf:langString Signed letter from Boris Johnson saying that an extension would be a mistake

rdf:langString July 2022

rdf:langString horizontal

rdf:langString vertical

rdf:langString Official portrait of Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP crop 1.jpg

rdf:langString Official portrait of Rishi Sunak crop 1.jpg

rdf:langString Johnson premiership

rdf:langString Boris Johnson's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 24 July 2019 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, following the resignation of his predecessor Theresa May after Parliament's repeated rejections of her Brexit withdrawal agreement. While serving as prime minister, Johnson also served as the first lord of the treasury, minister for the civil service, minister for the union, and leader of the Conservative Party. His premiership ended with his resignation on 6 September 2022. Johnson's premiership was dominated by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the cost of living crisis. His premiership was also characterised by several political controversies and scandals, most notably the Partygate scandal. Johnson was the last Prime Minister to serve a full term under Elizabeth II. Johnson was declared leader of the Conservative Party after the results of the 2019 leadership election were announced on 23 July 2019. After being appointed Prime Minister the following day, Johnson created the Minister for the Union position, becoming the first Prime Minister to adopt the title. The extraordinary political turmoil over Brexit, begun during May's premiership, continued into the start of Johnson's premiership. This included a prorogation by Johnson that was overturned by the Supreme Court, the passing of the Benn Act against the government's fierce opposition, the expulsion of 21 MPs from the Conservative Party, the loss of the government's working majority, three failed attempts to dissolve Parliament and hold a general election, and allegations, particularly by Conservatives, of bias, rule-breaking and bullying by the speaker John Bercow, who was later succeeded by Lindsay Hoyle. A snap general election was held in December 2019, and Johnson led the Conservative Party to their biggest victory since 1987 under Margaret Thatcher. Following the election, Parliament ratified Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement, and the UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, beginning an eleven-month transition period. In March 2020, COVID-19 began to emerge as a serious crisis in the country, with Johnson himself testing positive and being hospitalised with the disease in April 2020. Johnson's government responded to the pandemic by enacting emergency powers and widespread societal measures including several lockdowns, and approved a vaccination programme that began in December 2020, although reception for Johnson's leadership during the crisis was mixed. As the pandemic continued, the UK and EU negotiated the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which provisionally came into force on 1 January 2021. Johnson was involved in the government's response to the death and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in April 2021, and the evacuation of Britons and eligible Afghans from Afghanistan after the Fall of Kabul in August 2021. He responded to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia as well as providing Ukraine with over £10 billion in military aid as well as billions of pounds in economic and humanitarian aid. Through his support of Ukraine, Johnson befriended Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and was awarded the Ukrainian Order of Liberty in August 2022. Johnson, already a controversial figure in British politics, had his premiership characterised by a string of political controversies and scandals. Following the Partygate scandal, Johnson's approval ratings declined sharply in 2021 and 2022, after facing several investigations into corruption, whilst the overall stability of his government was impacted by the resignations of several senior staffers. Other notable scandals that occurred during Johnson's premiership included controversies regarding COVID-19 contracts, the Dominic Cummings scandal, the Downing Street refurbishment controversy, the Owen Paterson scandal, and the wider parliamentary second jobs controversy, the Keir Starmer slur controversy and the resignation of Johnson's two advisers on ethics and the Ministerial Code. In June 2022, he won a confidence vote in his leadership of the Conservative Party, with 211 Conservative MPs voting in favour and 148 against, but was politically weakened. Within weeks, the government was plunged into a political crisis triggered by the Chris Pincher scandal, and led to a record number of resignations from Johnson's government, which began with the resignations of Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak on 5 July. Despite the historic mass resignation of his ministers and calls for him to resign, Johnson stated that he had a "colossal mandate" from the public and initially refused to step down. On 7 July 2022, Johnson resigned as party leader, but remained in office in a caretaker role until his successor, his Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, was formally appointed by the Queen on 6 September 2022.