Premiership Of Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 24 July 2019 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, following the resignation of his predecessor Theresa May after Parliament's repeated rejections of her Brexit withdrawal agreement. While serving as prime minister, Johnson also served as the first lord of the treasury, minister for the civil service, minister for the union, and leader of the Conservative Party. His premiership ended with his resignation on 6 September 2022. Johnson's premiership was dominated by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the cost of living crisis. His premiership was also characterised by several political controversies and scandals, most notably the Partygate scandal.

Johnson was declared leader of the Conservative Party after the results of the 2019 leadership election were announced on 23 July 2019. After being appointed Prime Minister the following day, Johnson created the Minister for the Union position, becoming the first Prime Minister to adopt the title. The extraordinary political turmoil over Brexit, begun during May's premiership, continued into the start of Johnson's premiership. This included a prorogation by Johnson that was overturned by the Supreme Court, the passing of the Benn Act against the government's fierce opposition, the expulsion of 21 MPs from the Conservative Party, the loss of the government's working majority, three failed attempts to dissolve Parliament and hold a general election, and allegations, particularly by Conservatives, of bias, rule-breaking and bullying by the speaker John Bercow, who was later succeeded by Lindsay Hoyle. A snap general election was held in December 2019, and Johnson led the Conservative Party to their biggest victory since 1987 under Margaret Thatcher. Following the election, Parliament ratified Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement, and the UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, beginning an eleven-month transition period.

In March 2020, COVID-19 began to emerge as a serious crisis in the country, with Johnson himself testing positive and being hospitalised with the disease in April 2020. Johnson's government responded to the pandemic by enacting emergency powers and widespread societal measures including several lockdowns, and approved a vaccination programme that began in December 2020, although reception for Johnson's leadership during the crisis was mixed. As the pandemic continued, the UK and EU negotiated the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which provisionally came into force on 1 January 2021. Johnson was involved in the government's response to the death and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in April 2021, and the evacuation of Britons and eligible Afghans from Afghanistan after the Fall of Kabul in August 2021. He responded to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia as well as providing Ukraine with over £10 billion in military aid as well as billions of pounds in economic and humanitarian aid. Through his support of Ukraine, Johnson befriended Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and was awarded the Ukrainian Order of Liberty in August 2022.

Johnson, already a controversial figure in British politics, had his premiership characterised by a string of political controversies and scandals. Following the Partygate scandal, Johnson's approval ratings declined sharply in 2021 and 2022, after facing several investigations into corruption, whilst the overall stability of his government was impacted by the resignations of several senior staffers. Other notable scandals that occurred during Johnson's premiership included controversies regarding COVID-19 contracts, the Dominic Cummings scandal, the Downing Street refurbishment controversy, the Owen Paterson scandal, and the wider parliamentary second jobs controversy, the Keir Starmer slur controversy and the resignation of Johnson's two advisers on ethics and the Ministerial Code. In June 2022, he won a confidence vote in his leadership of the Conservative Party, with 211 Conservative MPs voting in favour and 148 against, but was politically weakened. Within weeks, the government was plunged into a political crisis triggered by the Chris Pincher scandal, and led to a record number of resignations from Johnson's government, which began with the resignations of Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak on 5 July. Despite the historic mass resignation of his ministers and calls for him to resign, Johnson stated that he had a "colossal mandate" from the public and initially refused to step down. On 7 July 2022, Johnson resigned as party leader, but remained in office in a caretaker role until his successor, his Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, was formally appointed by the Queen on 6 September 2022.

Conservative leadership bid

Theresa May, after failing to pass her Brexit withdrawal agreement through parliament three times, announced her resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 24 May 2019 amidst calls for her to be ousted. Boris Johnson (a key person in the Vote Leave campaign who had served as the Mayor of London) had already confirmed at a business event in Manchester days earlier that he would run for Conservative Party leader if May were to resign.

Prior to his state visit to the United Kingdom, US President Donald Trump endorsed Johnson for party leader in an interview with '' The Sun'', opining that he thought he "would do a very good job." Johnson won all five rounds of voting by MPs, and entered the final vote by Conservative Party members as the clear favourite to be elected PM. On 23 July, he emerged victorious over his rival Jeremy Hunt with 92,153 votes, 66.4% of the total ballot, while Hunt received 46,656 votes. These results were announced an event in the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster.

Initial appointments

On the day of his announcement as Prime Minister, Johnson handed the role of Chief Whip to "relative unknown" MP Mark Spencer.

Andrew Griffith, an executive at the media conglomerate Sky, was appointed chief business adviser to Number 10. Munira Mirza, who was a deputy mayor for Johnson throughout his mayoralty of London, was appointed director of the Number 10 Policy Unit. Dominic Cummings, former chief of the Vote Leave campaign, was appointed in to a role as a senior advisor to Johnson.

Johnson's key cabinet appointments were Sajid Javid as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Dominic Raab as Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State, and Priti Patel as Home Secretary. Michael Gove became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and was replaced as Environment Secretary by Theresa Villiers. Gavin Williamson became Education Secretary, Andrea Leadsom became Business Secretary, Liz Truss became International Trade Secretary and Grant Shapps became Transport Secretary. Steve Barclay, Matt Hancock, Amber Rudd and Alun Cairns retained their previous cabinet roles, whilst Julian Smith, Alister Jack and Nicky Morgan took on new roles. Entering cabinet for the first time were Ben Wallace, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly, Rishi Sunak and Robert Buckland.

First 100 days

On 24 July 2019, Johnson entered 10 Downing Street for the first time as Prime Minister. He used his first speech to promise that a Brexit deal would be struck within 99 days, and pledged that Britain would leave the European Union (EU) by 31 October 2019, "no ifs or buts".

Johnson focused on strengthening the Union within his first few days in office, creating a Minister for the Union position and visiting Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Showing a commitment to the North of England, he gave Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry a right to attend cabinet. On 27 July, Johnson gave a speech at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester where he promised to build a high-speed rail route connecting the city to Leeds.

Johnson's first overseas trip as Prime Minister was when he travelled to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 21 August 2019. He visited France to hold meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron the next day. From 24 to 26 August he attended his first multilateral meeting with world leaders as Prime Minister, when he travelled to Biarritz for the 45th G7 summit.

Prorogation of parliament

On 28 August 2019, Johnson advised Queen Elizabeth II to prorogue parliament between 12 September 2019 and 14 October 2019, which was given ceremonial approval by the Queen at a Privy Council meeting. The prorogation spurred requests for a judicial review of the advice given by Johnson as the order itself, under royal prerogative powers, cannot be challenged in court. As of 29 August, three court proceedings had been lodged, and one European legal proceeding had begun:
* In the Court of Session, Edinburgh, for breach of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 and the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, by 75 MPs led by Joanna Cherry;
* In the High Court of Justice, Westminster, for an urgent judicial review on the legality of the use of the royal prerogative, by Gina Miller;
* In the High Court, Northern Ireland, for breach of the Good Friday Agreement, by Raymond McCord;
* In the European Parliament, for breach of Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, under the process outlined under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union.

On 24 September 2019 the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom found that Johnson's attempt to prorogue Parliament for five weeks "had the effect of frustrating or preventing the constitutional role of Parliament in holding the government to account", that the matter was justiciable, and therefore that the attempted prorogation was unlawful. It accordingly declared that the prorogation was void ''ab initio''. Parliament returned the following day and the record was made to show that Parliament was not in fact prorogued but rather "adjourned". On 2 October 2019, Johnson announced his plans to prorogue Parliament on 8 October and hold a new State Opening of Parliament on 14 October.

Loss of working majority, Conservative MPs and ministerial resignations

On 29 August 2019, Johnson suffered the first ministerial resignation of his premiership, when Lord Young of Cookham resigned as a government whip in the House of Lords.

On 3 September 2019, Phillip Lee crossed the floor and defected to the Liberal Democrats following disagreement with Johnson's Brexit policy. This left the government with no working majority in the House of Commons. Later that day, 21 Conservative MPs – including former Chancellors Kenneth Clarke and Philip Hammond, and Nicholas Soames, a grandson of former Conservative leader Winston Churchill – had the party whip withdrawn for defying party orders and supporting the Benn Act, an opposition motion requiring the government to act to stop a no-deal Brexit if Parliament has not backed a deal by 19 October. Johnson saw his working majority reduced from 1 to minus 43.

On 5 September 2019, Johnson's brother Jo Johnson resigned from the government and announced that he would step down as an MP, describing his position as "torn between family and national interest."

On 7 September 2019, Amber Rudd resigned as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and from the Conservative Party, describing the withdrawal of the party whip from MPs on 3 September as an "assault on decency and democracy".

Brexit plan publication

On 2 October 2019, the government delivered its Brexit proposals to the EU in a seven-page document, including plans to replace the Irish backstop. The proposals would see Northern Ireland stay in the European single market for goods, but leave the customs union, resulting in new customs checks.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, said he did not think Johnson's Brexit plan would get EU support, claiming it was worse than the deal negotiated by former Prime Minister Theresa May. He also said the proposal was "very unspecific on how the Good Friday Agreement can be upheld."

On 4 October, government papers submitted to the Scottish court indicated that Johnson would ask the EU for an extension to the Article 50 process if a deal was not reached by 19 October. However, later the same day Johnson reiterated his earlier statement that the UK would be leaving the EU on 31 October, regardless of whether or not a deal had been reached.

Revised withdrawal agreement

Following negotiations between the UK and EU, a revised withdrawal agreement was reached on 17 October. A special Saturday sitting of Parliament was held two days later to debate the new agreement. MPs passed an amendment, introduced by Sir Oliver Letwin by 322 votes to 306, withholding Parliament's approval until legislation implementing the deal was passed, and intending to force the government to request a delay from the EU for the exit until 31 January 2020. Later that evening, 10 Downing Street confirmed that Johnson would send a letter to the EU requesting an extension, but would not sign it. EU Council President Donald Tusk subsequently confirmed receipt of the letter, which Johnson had described as "Parliament's letter, not my letter". In addition, Johnson sent a second letter expressing the view that any further delay to Brexit would be a mistake.

On 21 October, the government published the withdrawal agreement bill and proposed three days of debate for opposition MPs to scrutinise it. The Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow refused a government request to hold a vote on the Brexit deal, citing their previous decision to withdraw it.

The government brought the recently revised EU Withdrawal Bill to the House of Commons for debate on the evening of 22 October 2019. MPs voted on the Bill itself, which was passed by 329 votes to 299, and the timetable for debating the Bill, which was defeated by 322 votes to 308. Prior to the votes, Johnson had stated that if his timetable failed to generate the support needed to pass in parliament he would abandon attempts to get the deal approved and would seek a general election. Following the vote, however, Johnson announced that the legislation would be paused while he consulted with other EU leaders.

On 30 October, Johnson took part in a one-hour and eleven minute long session of Prime Minister's Questions – the longest on record. He led tributes to parliamentarian John Bercow who stood down the following day after ten years as Speaker of the House of Commons.

2019 general election

Calls for early election

On 3 September 2019, Johnson threatened to call a general election after opposition and rebel Conservative MPs successfully voted against the government to take control of the order of business with a view to preventing a no-deal exit.

The bill to block a no-deal exit, which the government opposed, passed the Commons on 4 September 2019, causing Johnson to call for a general election on 15 October. However, this motion was unsuccessful as it failed to command the support of two-thirds of the House as required by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA).

On 5 September, Johnson launched a national campaign to recruit 20,000 new police officers. He also pledged to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 and increase schools funding.

A second attempt at a motion for an early general election failed on 9 September. After the programme motion for the withdrawal agreement bill failed to pass on 22 October, Johnson once again submitted a motion for an early general election under the FTPA. After the motion failed, the government put forward a short bill to hold another election – a method which needed only a simple majority and not a two thirds majority as required by the FTPA. Opposition MPs submitted an amendment to change the date of the election to 9 December rather than 12 December, but the amendment failed. On 29 October, MPs approved the election for 12 December in a second vote. The date of the election became law when royal assent was given on 31 October.

Campaign

Campaigning for the election began officially on 6 November. Both Corbyn and Johnson started the campaign in early November with poor approval ratings. According to Deltapoll, Johnson's rating stood at minus 5 with Corbyn's rating at minus 48.

Johnson participated in a television debate with Jeremy Corbyn hosted by ITV on 19 November, and one hosted by the BBC
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