Having limped along following the Partygate investigation, multiple sex scandals and successive political failures, Boris Johnson is nearing the end of his time in Downing Street, according to newspapers.
“On the edge”, “hanging by a thread” and “Last chance salon” were just some of the metaphors used by headline writers to describe the prime minister’s predicament on Wednesday morning after he was dumped by two of his most senior ministers in their office.
“Finally” said the banner headline in the Mirror, adding that “after years of supporting toxic PM, Sunak and Javid are holding a knife”.
The Sun headlined ‘Last Chance Saloon’ and also painted a bloody, Shakespearean scene, adding that ‘Boris was stabbed on the day from hell’.
“Could even Boris the Greased Pig get away with this?” asks the Mail, adding that their “reprehensible” resignation letters damn the Prime Minister’s lack of “integrity” and “clout”.
The Telegraph cleared its front page to cover the crisis in one huge article. It was headlined: “Johnson hangs on by a thread as Sunak and Javid leave” and prominently published scathing quotes from their resignation letters. It describes the prime minister as struggling to strengthen his cabinet.
The Times says “Johnson on edge” and highlights Rishi Sunak’s words in his resignation letter saying “I have been loyal … but we can’t go on like this”.
The Guardian’s front page said “PM on brink as Javid and Sunak quit” in what it called a day of “dramatic departures”.
The Financial Times has a similar line and what for the pink man is the unusual attitude of spreading the story right to the front of the paper. “Johnson on edge as ministers withdraw,” it said.
“I’m going! I’m going! Gone?” says Metro, and has the clever line that the Prime Minister was caught in a “pincher move”.
“The whole rotten lot must go,” says the Record, while the Herald says “Johnson on the brink.”
It is left to the ever-loyal Express to put a positive spin on the crisis, which it tries to paint as an opportunity for a “liberated” Johnson to set out his “true blue Tory agenda”, perhaps alluding to past tensions with ex-Chancellor Sunak. It claims that the coup has already failed. The headline: “Boris fights for ‘Declaration… I’m now free to cut taxes’.”
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