UK Economy Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid announced their resignations on Tuesday after losing confidence in the leadership of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The departure of these two heavyweights weakens Johnson’s position, ravaged by multiple scandals (particularly that of Partygate), and indicates that further resignations could bring the government down.
In his resignation letter, Sunak says that the Ministry of Economy may have been his last “ministerial job”, but that for him it is more important to fight for good standards of conduct.
“The public rightly expects government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously,” which would not be the case today, he argued.
Sunak says he was “loyal” and publicly supportive of the Conservative leader, even when he disagreed with him “in private” and tried to support Johnson’s budget priorities.
However, according to the letter, Johnson was unwilling to make “hard decisions” about the economy and this led them to disagree on their approach, to the point that Sunak resigned.
Javid said he cannot, “in good conscience, continue to serve in this administration.” “I am a team player by instinct, but the British people rightly expect integrity in government,” he declared.
The health minister notes that the problems facing the Conservative Party “will not be resolved under Johnson’s leadership”, which is why he has “lost confidence” in the prime minister.
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