Johnson resigned from the presidency, what next?

He won a historic election in 2019, but was eventually forced to resign under pressure from his party. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today that he will be stepping down as Conservative leader and, as a consequence, as Prime Minister.

The scandals that have supposedly killed other prime ministers do not seem to affect Johnson’s position. But the last case, that of Chris Pincher, proved too much even for Johnson. What’s next for the UK Prime Minister?

Johnson would not be Johnson if his passing was silent. When he announced his departure from the party leadership today, he indicated that he wanted to remain in the position of acting prime minister until the fall. But not all members of the House of Commons accept this.

Some Conservatives point out that a significant number of ministers have resigned in recent weeks because of Johnson. If he were to stay for the next few months, that would be very cynical.

Opposition leader Startermer immediately threatened a vote of no-confidence in the government if Johnson did not leave before then. “His party has decided he is unfit to remain in office, and they cannot carry the country with him in the coming months,” the Labor leader said.

Former Conservative Prime Minister John Major, who himself resigned in the 1990s, spoke today as well. In a letter he called on the powerful 1922 Committee, members of the Conservative Party, to remove Johnson immediately. Major called it “unwise” to leave Johnson de facto in power for another three months.

Meanwhile, in the background, the race for the premiership began. This may take weeks.

Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, left in 2019 after losing her party’s confidence by failing to strike a Brexit deal acceptable to her party with the European Union. She remained as acting prime minister until the Conservatives appointed his successor. Johnson won the leadership election after a few rounds.

Those interested in the mail can register in the coming period. Only members of the House of Commons are entitled. They need at least eight signatures from fellow group members for this. Once in, it will be up to Conservative MPs to vote in the rounds. In addition, the threshold for remaining in the race is constantly raised, until two candidates remain at the end. These two names are given to the 200,000 Conservative Party members from across the country.

The timetable for this driving race was set by the 1922 commission.

As with May’s resignation, there is already a lot of speculation in the British media about who will be the next prime minister. Several Conservative Party leaders are mentioned, such as Rishi Sunak. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was one of the first to leave the Johnson government, and to some extent paved the way for those who left their businesses. For a long time, Sunak was very popular. But the minister himself was also under fire because of his wife. His wife, millionaire Akhchata Morti, had non-resident status and was therefore tax-exempt in the United Kingdom.

Secretary Liz Truss (Foreign Affairs) is regularly mentioned. She has held many ministerial positions and is popular among conservatives. Previously, she made no secret of her ambition to become prime minister.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was recently mentioned. His popularity increased due to the handling of the Ukraine crisis. In some bookmakers (Betting desks) is currently the most popular.

Names such as Penny Mordaunt – one of the ministers who remained during the emigration – and Michael Gove (who made an attempt before) are also mentioned.

The Conservatives can appoint a new leader who automatically becomes prime minister, without the need for elections. The only condition is that a new general election must be held before December 2024.

A new prime minister can call elections before that time. But the Conservatives currently have a large majority in the House of Commons. Therefore, they do not benefit much from the new elections.