British Prime Minister Boris Johnson attends a press conference during a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, June 30, 2022.
Yves Herman | Reuters
LONDON — More than 50 members of parliament have resigned from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government since Tuesday, as an unprecedented revolt against the leader from his own party continues.
After a flurry of resignations on Wednesday, more ministers resigned early Thursday morning, including Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, Finance Minister Helen Whatley and Security Secretary Damien Hinds.
Sky News figures put the total number of departures at 53 as of 8.15am London time.
The 50th resignation came from George Freeman, junior minister for science, research and innovation, at around 7.20am London time. Pensions Minister Guy Opperman resigned soon after.
In a scathing resignation letter to the prime minister, Freeman said that “the culmination of your lack of transparency and candor with Parliament (and willingness to ask your ministers to mislead Parliament), your removal of key pillars of the ministerial code, your handling of your appointing a Deputy Chief Whip who it turns out you knew had a history of sexual abuse allegations is too much.”
“This seriously undermines public trust and respect for government, democracy and the law, and the long tradition of this great party as the party of standards, character, conduct, integrity and duty to service and country over party self-interest,” he added.
CNBC has contacted Downing Street for comment. The prime minister has so far refused calls to resign, vowing to “keep fighting”.
Johnson has been embroiled in a series of scandals and accusations of misleading the public, but the final straw for many MPs is Conservative MP Chris Pincher. The former deputy chief whip was suspended last week over allegations he drunkenly groped two men at a private members’ club.
On Tuesday, Johnson apologized for appointing Pincher as deputy chief whip – a senior role in the party – despite being aware of an investigation into his conduct in 2019.
This is a story in progress and will be updated soon.
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