British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is likely to be able to hold on to his post. Commenting on the report on parties at the politician’s residence in the midst of COVID-quarantine, Lord Richard Balfe, a member of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords (upper house of parliament), told Izvestia about this.
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“The report reflects a critical attitude towards the prime minister and the work of his office, but it reveals little that is new – many parts of it have been merged over the past few weeks,” the parliamentarian said.
In his opinion, Boris Johnson will not resign.
“He really believes that he did nothing wrong, so the only way to get him to leave is to initiate a vote of confidence in the ranks of the Tories in the House of Commons. About 50 people may vote for the resignation, but there are still more than 250 deputies who most likely will not vote so, although some of them may abstain, ”said Balf.
On May 25, the results of an internal investigation, which since January 2022 was led by an employee of the secretariat of the government, Sue Gray, were published. The 60-page document focuses on the party scandal that took place at 10 Downing Street (the Prime Minister’s residence) at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while ordinary citizens, observing quarantine restrictions, could not visit each other and even attend the funerals of deceased relatives.
A parallel police investigation found that there were eight such gatherings, six in 2020 and two in 2021. Moreover, the last took place on April 16 – exactly before the funeral of Prince Philip, wife of Queen Elizabeth II.
After the parties became known to the general public, Boris Johnson repeatedly apologized to British citizens, Parliament and the Queen. As a result, the participants of the events were ordered to pay a fine – a total of 126 prescriptions.