Boris Johnson: Scandals send Tory polls tumbling

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Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson

PHOTO: PAUL CHILDS / REUTERS

Demands for the resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are getting louder. While the opposition has been demanding this for a long time, members of the Conservative Party are increasingly moving away from Johnson. They fear they could be punished vicariously by their voters. "Unfortunately, the prime minister's position has become untenable," said Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, a former Johnson supporter. »The time has come to leave the stage.«

The background to Bridgen's demands for his resignation is likely to be the deteriorating poll numbers of the Conservatives.

According to a survey by the opinion research institute Savanta ComRes, the opposition Labor Party's lead over Johnson's conservative Tories grew to ten percentage points.

In the poll, Labor got 42 percent (up five percentage points), the Conservatives at 32 percent (down one percentage point).

70 percent of the 2,151 respondents were in favor of Johnson's resignation.

The next parliamentary election would normally take place in 2024.

Party before Prince Philip's funeral

The reason for the latest wave of outrage in Great Britain are new media reports about further parties in Johnson's official residence in Downing Street in London. According to the Daily Telegraph, not only were these celebrated despite the current corona restrictions, but they also took place on the eve of the funeral of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's husband, last April. For the second time this week, Johnson had to apologize for parties at his official residence on Friday – but this time directly to the Queen.

"It is deeply unfortunate that this came at a time of national mourning," a spokesman for Johnson told reporters about the parties, reports Reuters. They apologized to the palace. The spokesman added that Johnson was at the Checkers manor on the said day of celebrations, April 16, 2021. He was also not invited to any meetings. However, the Mirror later reported that Johnson regularly witnessed Friday wine nights at his office and encouraged his staff to "let off steam." During the lockdown, Johnson himself attended a handful of these gatherings. Only on Wednesday did the prime minister apologize in parliament for attending a garden party,that existed in May 2020 in the midst of the first corona lockdown.

"Large amounts of alcohol"

According to the Telegraph, the April 2021 celebrations must have been wild.

Employees are said to have bought large quantities of alcohol in a nearby supermarket, music was played on a laptop and a swing belonging to Johnson's son was broken.

All this is said to have taken place, although at the time there were restrictions on gatherings of people from different households due to the pandemic.

It is also particularly precarious that the country mourned Queen Elizabeth II for her husband, who died at the age of 99.

The day after the parties, the Queen said goodbye to her husband in St. George's Chapel and sat alone in a row of pews because of the corona restrictions.

Because of the parties, Johnson is in one of the worst crises of his tenure.

However, this has already been overshadowed by several other scandals, such as the use of donations to renovate Johnson's office.

col/Reuters