Attending Downing Street parties during lockdown at a time when the nation faced strict quarantine rules and a serious crisis, plus other rule-breaking activities by Johnson have lost him the people’s trust.
Boris Johnson has been the prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party since 2019.
He was Secretary of State for foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2016 to 2018 and Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. Johnson has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2015.
Throughout the years, he has held prominent posts in his country, but has been unable to take positive steps for the people. To the contrary, he has now lost their trust for his illegal activities. A majority of people, including his supporters, are now calling for his resignation and are no longer willing to tolerate his corrupt government.
After Boris Johnson held a birthday party in the hardest days of the pandemic, he faced a flood of protests from the public.
Not only were the people angry with him, the government was also in turmoil.
On 26 January, Keir Starmer called him to ask for his immediate resignation. But he rejected Keir Starmer’s request and did not resign from his post.
Meanwhile, he made different excuses and said that he had attended a work event party and was unaware he was breaking any rules. He stated that he had held the party for the sake of assessing people’s livelihood problems and deal with the economy of the country and the Ukraine crisis. Labour Leader Keir Starmer said that Boris Johnson is a liar and he must resign his post.
Now, many Conservative Party members are also calling for Boris Johnson to resign, but he is unwilling to do so and believes that his apology can solve his problems, prompting the people and the government to forget his scandalous behaviour during lockdown.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has paid a fine to the police for attending a lockdown-breaching birthday party in his official residence, making him the first British leader to be sanctioned for breaking the law while in office.
He claims that the party was a work event, but evidence shows that he and his staff drank wine and ignored the lockdown restrictions.
Following the disclosure of the event, he tried to justify his mistake, but people and the government found his excuses unjustifiable. He has since apologised a number of times, but people are calling him a liar.
Conservative MPs Saying Boris Johnson Must Go
On Monday, after the disclosure of Boris Johnson’s birthday party scandal, bereaved families who were unable to attend the funeral of loved ones they had lost to Covid-19 due to quarantine rules imposed by the government felt angry and betrayed.
This event proved the prime minister’s mismanagement at the heart of Downing Street. This and other earlier events have brought Johnson face-to-face with increasing anger and declining trust among the people.
A frontbencher said those who had been running the numbers of would-be-rebels for the prime minister over the weekend were becoming increasingly concerned that Johnson could face a vote of no-confidence despite multiple charm offensive calls to wavering MPs.
“People have been telling them over the weekend that they are behind the PM, but of course, that could be people lying,” the source said.
“Ultimately, there’s a third of the payroll I could see voting against the PM – if that happens he needs at least half of all backbenchers to back him. That seems pretty unlikely. You can see things get dangerous quickly.”
All staff who had participated in that party denied their presence there, but the government is going to investigate both this matter and Boris Johnson.
Indeed, when people heard the news, it was a painful reminder of the death of their loved ones and not being able to take part in their funeral ceremonies for the sake of lockdown restrictions.
Boris Johnson’s scandal rubs salt in the wounds of hundreds of thousands who lost loved ones during the pandemic. If he was honest and sincere with the people, he would not be bringing such pain and suffering to the nation.
Boris Johnson Damaging the Government with His Behaviour
‘Partygate” has had crucial consequences for Boris Johnson.
The government fined him after the disclosure of his participation in that party with Rishi Sunak. Johnson and his Conservative Government have faced growing outrage since the allegations surfaced late last year that he and his staff flouted Britain’s pandemic restrictions and held office parties in 2020 and 2021 when millions in the country were barred from meeting with friends and family, or even attending funerals for their loved ones.
Johnson and Sunak received notice on Tuesday according to which they had to pay an amount of money as a fine for the sake of their participation in the party.
Johnson tried to claim that the party was not a celebration, but no one believed him and opponents and some members of the Conservative Party called for his resignation for breaking the quarantine rules.
People who had not obeyed the restrictions during the pandemic were fined between 60 ($79) and 10,000 pounds ($13,200) by police for rule-breaking social gatherings.
“Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have broken the law and repeatedly lied to the British public,” said Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour party. “The Conservatives are totally unfit to govern. Britain deserves better.”
The Scandals Have Reduced People’s Trust in the British Government
Recent polls show that 54% of the British people are asking for the PM’s resignation. The floods of protests indicate that there is a possibility of dismissing him and holding new elections. The scandals also entail consequences for Conservative Party prospects in the upcoming local elections in May and the Wakefield by-election.
It is also possible that the effects will endure until the next general election. So if trust in the prime minister keeps falling, it will lead to declining trust in other political institutions.
Trust reduction in the government among the people will have serious consequences for the democracy of a nation.
The latest survey showed that 27% of people did not trust the prime minister at all, and only 11% thought he was very trustworthy.
The overall score of this assessment showed that there is a great decline in the public’s faith in British democracy and its institutions.
