Boris Johnson has pledged to “keep going” as prime minister despite 17 MPs resigning from his government.
Asked at Prime Minister’s Questions by fellow Conservative Tim Loughton if there were “any circumstances in which he should resign”, Mr Johnson said he would if he “felt it was impossible.. to go on” as a government.
But he added: “The job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when he has been handed a colossal mandate is to keep going, and that’s what I am going to do.”
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The resignations began after Number 10 admitted Mr Johnson had known about allegations against disgraced former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher dating back to 2019 before hiring him, despite sending out ministers to say he did not know any specifics.
Mr Pincher resigned last week after further allegations that he groped two men at a private club in London, and he was later suspended from the Conservative Party.
Former senior civil servant Lord McDonald revealed on Tuesday that the PM had been told in person of the initial allegations, despite what Downing Street was telling the press.
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Less than 12 hours later, Rishi Sunak resigned as chancellor and Sajid Javid quit as health secretary, prompting a flurry of more junior ministers saying they could no longer support Mr Johnson.
Sir Keir Starmer attacked the PM over his handling of the scandal, reading out the accusations levelled at Mr Pincher as a “reminder to all those propping up this prime minister just how serious the situation is”.
In fiery exchanges at PMQs, the Labour leader said the list of resignations had left him with a “z list cast of nodding dogs” on his frontbench, adding the “sinking ships are fleeing the rat”.
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But it was not just opposition MPs putting the boot in, with several on the Conservative benches telling Mr Johnson to go.
Gary Sambrook – who is also an executive member of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers – said the PM “constantly tries to deflect from the issue, always tries to blame other people for mistakes, and [there is] nothing left for him to do than take responsibility and resign.”
David Davis, who called for Mr Johnson to go six months ago, reiterated his demand, saying he needed to “do the honourable thing [and] put the interests of the nation before his own interests and before, in his own words, it does become impossible for government to do its job”.
