British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that he will step down as leader of the Conservative Party, but plans to remain prime minister until the autumn.
Boris Johnson stepped down as British Prime Minister. True, not today, but somewhere in September-October, when the new leader will elect the country’s ruling Conservative Party. What has Ukraine lost in the resignation of its main friend in the West?
Appeal to Ukrainians
Announcing his decision on the threshold of the prime minister’s residence in Downing Street, Johnson thanked his supporters and the people of Britain for the support and said he was incredibly sad to leave “the best job in the world “, but” it just happened.. ”
He appeal to the people of Ukrainewho stressed that his cabinet will continue to support this country even after his resignation.
In his speech, Johnson recalled his major achievements – from Brexit to the covid vaccination program, he also mentioned London’s leadership in dealing with Putin’s aggression.
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Long story
A serious crisis in the British government over the prime minister’s credibility has been evolving over the past few months and culminating this week.
Johnson’s departure was the result of unprecedented pressure from members of his government. More than 50 ministers and senior ministry officials have left their posts in recent days, including some of Johnson’s closest supporters such as Rishi Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid.
Interior Secretary Priti Patel, who fully owes his career to Boris Johnson, and Transportation Minister Grant Shapps also called on the prime minister to step down.
On Thursday morning, new chancellor Nadeem Zahavi, who took office less than 48 hours after Sunak’s departure, urged Johnson to step down, saying “it’s unbearable and will only get worse.”
Members of his party have been trying to remove Johnson all year. In early June, a vote of no confidence in Johnson passed in Parliament, and then he was able to win it by a small margin. The vote was initiated by 54 MPs from the Conservative Party, who were outraged by a report on parties on Downing Street in 2020-2021, when the country was under severe coronavirus lockdown.
The final blow was the scandal with Chris Pincher, a member of the Johnson government, who was accused of sexual harassment of men.
This week it was learned that two men had complained about Pincher that he touched them in an obscene manner at a party at a private club. Chris Pincher is directly responsible for the discipline of Conservatives in Parliament.
Parliamentarians were outraged at the fact Johnson appointed this deputy to a high position despite the fact he had been accused of similar things before, and an internal investigation concluded that the allegations were well -founded.
Johnson replied that he didn’t remember anything like that, but then he decided to apologize anyway – but only after irrefutable evidence emerged that the incident had been personally reported to him, and even if he had forgotten it, it was easy to raise his secretary the minutes of that meeting and reminder.
In the hands of Russia?
Political scientist Vladimir Fesenko believes that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could be replaced by someone with a more restricted position.
“Boris Johnson’s advantage for Ukraine is that he is a very bright figure and emotionally charged to support Ukraine. The new prime minister may have a more restrained position, he may not be a bright figure to cause of both media and political outcry.But the main thing for us is that in the same Conservative Party, if we look at the position of not only the Prime Minister, but also the British Foreign Secretary, and the party representatives, there is no internal discussions about supporting Ukraine, ”Fesenko said.
Therefore, Fesenko is confident that Britain’s support for Ukraine will continue. And therefore, he believes, Russia has no reason to rejoice, even though they are already celebrating Johnson’s resignation.
“The Kremlin has always introduced politics … They can be happy, but I think if Johnson leaves, they will see that UK policy will not change, so this is another mistake by the Russian authorities. They want to see a split in the West, but in their aggressive actions, on the contrary, albeit somewhat, they united the West in the confrontation with the Russian Federation, ”Fesenko added.
Reaction to resignation
Johnson spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after announcing his resignation on Thursday. In a telephone conversation, Johnson reaffirmed the United Kingdom’s unwavering support for Ukraine and said London would “continue to provide valuable military assistance as needed.”
In addition, the British prime minister promised to work on unblocking grain exports from Ukraine and thanked Zelensky “for everything he does for freedom, for the friendship and kindness of the Ukrainian people. “
In this regard, the President of Ukraine thanked Johnson for his decisive actions against Ukraine and mentioned that the Ukrainian citizens are grateful for the efforts of the UK.
According to the British Prime Minister’s office, Johnson ended the conversation with a compliment for Zelensky, saying: “You’re a hero, everyone loves you.”
In turn, the Office of the President reported that Zelensky expressed gratitude to the British prime minister for Ukraine’s “resolute and uncompromising support” from the early days of full-scale aggression.
“We are all saddened by this news. Not only me, but the whole Ukrainian society, which is very sympathetic to you. My whole Office and all Ukrainians are grateful for your help. We have no doubt that Britain’s support will continue, but you made it special with personal leadership and charisma, ”Zelensky stressed.
Russian representatives also responded quickly to Boris Johnson’s resignation.
“He doesn’t like us very much. We don’t like him either,” wrote Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Putin.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev expressed hope that other Western leaders criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine would also resign after Johnson.
“The first went … The logical result of British pride and moderate policy. Especially on the international track,” Medvedev wrote.
Federation Council Chair Valentina Matvienko called Johnson “the main Russophobe” who “dismissed himself in the eyes of his own citizens as a prime minister, as a politician.” He added that Europeans were “especially outraged by such unreasonable policies of their governments” and tried to explain the political crisis in Britain that led to the resignation of Boris Johnson, his strong criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.