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Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister:
"I want you to know how sad I am that I have to leave the best job in the world."
The pressure was too great, Boris Johnson resigned as British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party.
Nicolai von Ondarza, political scientist:
"Without a majority in parliament and support in his own parliamentary group, he cannot govern either, and he just had to take off his hat."
In the last few days, members of the government had turned their backs on him in droves.
More than 50 resigned to urge him to resign.
Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition:
'Mr.
Speaker, isn't this the first documented case of the sinking ship abandoning the rat?"
Boris Johnson initially clung to power.
In his resignation speech, too, he did not admit to any mistakes, instead he accused the many renegade party friends of having acted out of peer pressure.
Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister:
»The herd instinct is powerful.
Once the herd is on the move, it is on the move.”
Johnson announced that his resignation will only take effect once the successor has been clarified.
Until then, he would like to continue running the government++ – against great resistance from both political camps.
Nicolai von Ondarza, political scientist:
"He was forced to resign - not because of political disagreements or, for example, because of Brexit, but because of weaknesses in character.
And that the Conservative Party was convinced that he was no longer fit to govern.
And that's why I don't think he should be interim prime minister."
Johnsons made no mention of his missteps and scandals outside Number 10 Downing Street on Friday morning.
Rather, he praised his work since taking office at the end of 2019.
Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister:
"I am immensely proud of what this government has achieved: we pulled through Brexit and settled relations with the mainland.
We have reclaimed the power to make our laws here in Parliament.
We got through the pandemic, were the fastest to distribute the vaccination in Europe, and came out of the lockdown the fastest.
And in recent months have led the West in rebelling against Putin's aggression.”
Lots of praise, no insight, no self-criticism - Boris Johnson stayed true to himself.
Nicolai von Ondarza, political scientist:
»Johnson is particularly distinguished by his, how should one put it, very flexible relationship to the truth.
A Prime Minister is required to speak the truth every time in Parliament.
And there is ample evidence that Boris Johnson did not do that.
Above all, he repeatedly broke the informal rules.
There is no written constitution in Great Britain, but rather the expectation of “good chaps politics”, i.e. that politicians adhere to these informal rules.
And he broke that again and again as a member of parliament, but especially as Prime Minister, and in doing so showed that he was only concerned with one thing: above all his personal retention of power.«
British observers are now wondering whether Boris Johnson's brief era has done any lasting damage to UK political culture.
Nicolai von Ondarza, political scientist:
»You can compare it a bit with Donald Trump in the USA, where the Republicans stuck with him even after his election defeat and now many continue to follow Donald Trump.
And the decisive factor for British political culture will now be: Does the Conservative Party distance itself from Boris Johnson, i.e. choose a successor who sees a clear step and says I want to go back to good government, clear, normative British politics .
Or is there a successor who will essentially take the lead in Johnson's leadership style, thereby further fueling his damage to British culture?
But Foreign Minister Liz Truss, who will definitely throw her hat in the ring, is most likely to stand for a tough Brexit course and another confrontation with the EU. Then there is the former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, who got the whole thing rolling when he resigned yesterday. He stands for a more liberal economic policy, but will certainly at least largely stay the course with Brexit without seeking a new confrontation with the EU.
And then there are more traditional centre-right conservatives, such as Jeremy Hunt or Tom Tugendhat, who are looking for a real change from Johnson politics to an earlier, more liberal, conservative, moderate course and who will try to start this struggle for the succession in the Conservative Party to take the party back a little bit to the pre-Brexit era. But no one in the Conservative Party will question Brexit itself.«
A bit of the charisma that led Johnson to 14 million votes, many of them working class votes, and an absolute majority in the 2019 election, he also showed in his farewell speech.
Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister:
»Prime Minister is an apprenticeship.
I have traveled to every part of the UK.
And alongside the beauty of our natural world, I've met so many people obsessed with boundless British originality and a willingness to find new solutions to old problems.
That's why I'm sure: Even if things sometimes seem bleak, our future together is golden.
Many Thanks."
His personal future, however, is open.
Nicolai von Ondarza, political scientist:
»From a purely legal point of view, if he resigns as prime minister and party leader, he will actually remain a normal member of parliament for the time being.
Theresa May, for example, is still a member of the British Parliament and still plays an important role as a backbencher.
In the case of Boris Johnson, however, I would rather assume that he would withdraw to journalism again.
He also earned a lot of money with his newspaper articles and speeches.
And I think that's more of the career he's going to be looking for.
Because he's so isolated in the Conservative Party now that I can't even picture him as a backbencher."