Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is facing the most significant challenge to his premiership as eight members of his government have resigned over revelations that he lied over the appointment of MP Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip.
The Prime Minister was accused of ignoring concerns about the personal behaviour of Chris Pincher, who went on to take multiple government positions.
It was reported that Pincher resigned as Deputy Chief Whip after allegedly assaulting two men while drunk at London’s Carlton Club.
The outrage about the story prompted multiple cabinet resignations, the most recent of which was that of Will Quince, who resigned as children and families minister.
Pincher was the subject of credible claims of sexual misconduct, which have since been upheld, when Johnson put him forward for the role.
The PM then denied any knowledge of the case, before being publically disproven by Crossbench Peer, Lord Simon McDonald.
On Tuesday, Johnson was struck with the bombshell resignations of former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who were two key roles in his government and long-standing political allies.
Although there is no expectation that Johnson will resign of his own accord, he could be forced out by a parliamentary mechanism that would allow his party members to remove him. Johnson narrowly survived a formal vote of no confidence last month which, under current rules, should protect him for 12 months.
But there are numerous reports that members of the influential Conservative Party 1922 Committee are planning to meet Wednesday (today) to change the rules to allow another vote of no confidence to be triggered.
If they were to do so, Johnson is likely to jump before he is formally removed.
