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The first Johnson ministry began on 24 July 2019 when Queen Elizabeth II invited
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Fo ...
to form a new administration, following the resignation of the predecessor Prime Minister
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
. May had resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June 2019; Johnson was
elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...
as her successor on 23 July 2019. The Johnson ministry was formed from the 57th Parliament of the United Kingdom, as a
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
. It lost its working majority on 3 September 2019 when Tory MP Dr Phillip Lee crossed the floor to the Liberal Democrats. An election was called for 12 December 2019, which led to the formation of a Conservative
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats ...
, the
second Johnson ministry The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019, three days after Boris Johnson's audience with Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new administration following the 2019 general election, in which the Conservative Party ...
.


History

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister, after failing three times to secure passage through the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of her
Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill The European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (c. 1) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes legal provision for ratifying the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and incorporating it into the domestic law of the United K ...
, which would have seen the United Kingdom leave the European Union. Her announcement also followed the Conservative Party's very poor showing in the 2019 European Parliament elections in the UK. Her resignation as Conservative leader took effect on 7 June 2019. The former
London Mayor The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...
and
Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Fo ...
was elected to succeed May on 23 July 2019. He was appointed Prime Minister on the following day by Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
. Johnson inherited a
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
, supported by a
confidence and supply In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house. A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of parl ...
agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting of ...
with the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, and National conservatism, national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, ...
of
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Johnson appointed his cabinet on 24 July 2019, describing it as a "Cabinet for modern Britain", with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...
'' branding it "an ethnically diverse but ideologically homogeneous statement of intent". While forming his government, Johnson dismissed 11 senior ministers and accepted the resignation of six others, a
purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertak ...
described by Johnson's ally
Nigel Evans Nigel Martin Evans (born 10 November 1957) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ribble Valley constituency in Lancashire since 1992. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Joint Executive Secretary of ...
as "not so much a reshuffle as a summer's day massacre". The mass dismissal was the most extensive Cabinet reorganisation without a change in ruling party in postwar British political history, exceeding the seven Cabinet ministers dismissed in the "
Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives ( German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor A ...
" of 1962, and was dubbed the "Night of the Blond Knives" by '' The Sun''. Among other appointments, Johnson made
Dominic Raab Dominic Rennie Raab (; born 25 February 1974) is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice, and Lord Chancellor since October 2022, having previously served from 2021 to S ...
the
First Secretary of State The First Secretary of State is an office that is sometimes held by a minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The office indicates seniority, including over all other Secretaries of State. The office is not always in use, ...
and
Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
, and appointed
Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer f ...
and
Priti Patel Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. Patel has been the M ...
as Chancellor of the Exchequer and
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
respectively. Johnson increased the number of ministers attending the Cabinet to 33, four more than had attended the May Cabinet. One quarter of those appointed were women, proportionally less than the May and Cameron ministries. The Cabinet set a new record for ethnic minority representation, with four secretaries of state and two additional ministers coming from minority backgrounds; 17% of the Cabinet were from
BAME A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...
backgrounds, compared to 14% of the UK population. Nearly two-thirds of those appointed went to fee-paying schools, and almost half had attended Oxford or Cambridge universities. Johnson also created a new ministerial title to be held by himself,
Minister for the Union Minister for the Union is a position created by the former prime minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson during his first ministry, to be held concurrently with the duties of prime minister. Johnson proposed the position during the 2019 ...
, fulfilling a campaign pledge he had made in the leadership election. Loss of majority and ministerial resignations Johnson lost his working majority on 3 September 2019, when Dr Phillip Lee crossed the floor to join the Liberal Democrats. This was reduced further later the same day when 21 Conservative MPs had the whip removed after voting against the Government in order to enable Parliament to take control of the order paper and to debate a back bench bill designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit. On 5 September 2019, Johnson's brother and
Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...
MP
Jo Johnson Joseph Edmund Johnson, Baron Johnson of Marylebone, (born 23 December 1971) is a British politician who was Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from July to September 2019, as well as previously from 2015 to 2 ...
announced his intention to resign both his ministerial position and parliamentary seat, stating “In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest — it’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles as MP & Minister.” On 7 September 2019,
Amber Rudd Amber Augusta Rudd (born 1 August 1963) is a British former politician who served as Home Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2018 to 2019. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings and Rye, fir ...
announced she was resigning as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Minister for Women and Equalities, and leaving the Conservative Party. Amid an impasse in parliament over
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
, an election was called for 12 December 2019 by virtue of the passage of the
Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 The Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 (c. 29) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made legal provision for the holding of the 2019 United Kingdom general election on 12 December 2019. The Act was fast-tracked in ...
on 31 October 2019. The Conservatives won a majority, leading to the formation of the
second Johnson ministry The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019, three days after Boris Johnson's audience with Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new administration following the 2019 general election, in which the Conservative Party ...
on 16 December 2019.


Cabinet


July–December 2019


Changes

*
Jo Johnson Joseph Edmund Johnson, Baron Johnson of Marylebone, (born 23 December 1971) is a British politician who was Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from July to September 2019, as well as previously from 2015 to 2 ...
quit the government on 5 September 2019 and said that he would resign as an MP. His spot in the cabinet was filled by
Zac Goldsmith Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist serving as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment si ...
, who was made Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and at the Department for International Development on 10 September 2019. *
Amber Rudd Amber Augusta Rudd (born 1 August 1963) is a British former politician who served as Home Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2018 to 2019. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings and Rye, fir ...
resigned from the cabinet and from the Conservative Party on 7 September 2019. She was replaced as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by Therese Coffey on 8 September 2019, and as Minister for Women and Equalities by
Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fi ...
on 10 September 2019. *
Alun Cairns Alun Hugh Cairns (born 30 July 1970) is a Welsh Conservative Party politician serving as the member of Parliament (MP) for Vale of Glamorgan since 2010. He served as Secretary of State for Wales from 2016 to 2019. He was previously a member of ...
resigned from his post of Welsh Secretary on 6 November 2019.


List of ministers


Prime Minister and Cabinet Office


Departments of State


Law officers


Parliament


Departures from the first Johnson ministry

This is a list of resignations from the first government formed by Prime Minister
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Fo ...
. Since forming a government on 24 July 2019 after his appointment as Prime Minister, Johnson faced 4 resignations, including 2 cabinet ministers. This list omits sitting MPs who left the Conservative Party or had the whip withdrawn. It also discludes all ministers who resigned prior to Boris Johnson taking office as Prime Minister.


See also

* Johnson cabinets, of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London *
Second Johnson ministry The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019, three days after Boris Johnson's audience with Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new administration following the 2019 general election, in which the Conservative Party ...


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson 1 Ministry, first 2019 establishments in the United Kingdom British ministries Cabinets established in 2019 Cabinets disestablished in 2019 Ministries of Elizabeth II 2019 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 2019 in British politics