I QUIT… But not quite yet // UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Resigns

After months of upheaval in British politics, with wave after wave of allegations of lawbreaking, scandals, misconduct and leaks, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally resigned.
While just a few weeks ago the prime minister managed to survive a vote of no-confidence in which 148 of his MPs voted against him, the latest series of inner circle rebellions and resignations marked the end of the road for Boris Johnson.
Johnson won a landslide majority for his Conservative Party in the 2019 general election, with the promise of getting Brexit done, and through his larger-than-life character. The so-called red wall, traditional Labour strongholds turned Conservative overnight. Despite facing initial criticism from the opposition and the media for his delayed COVID lockdown response, he has generally fared well and was seen as having saved the economy during COVID by providing the necessary funding in a timely manner and through an effective vaccination rollout. However, the PM has been repeatedly criticized and lampooned by the media and others for his U-turns on critical policy, accusations of misleading the public on numerous occasions, slow response to the current cost-of-living crisis and allegations of multiple breaches of COVID laws, among other misgivings.
The war in Ukraine largely overshadowed other global events and local politics, giving Johnson an opportunity to showcase his leadership abilities in a time of international crisis. The UK prime minister was a leading figure in the struggle against Russia, and one of the first world leaders to visit the war-torn country. Boris Johnson is seen as a hero and close ally to Ukraine, especially by the Ukrainian president, who voiced his disappointment over Johnson’s departure.
However, further allegations of misconduct and misleading the public emerged when the PM insisted that he was unaware of complaints of inappropriate behavior levied against Tamworth MP Chris Pincher when the PM appointed him to be deputy chief whip in February. The PM was rebuffed by Lord Simon McDonald, in a letter to Kathryn Stone, parliamentary commissioner for standards, stating that, in fact, he had informed the prime minister’s Cabinet about the allegations and that the PM was briefed about it.
Having no choice, the prime minister retracted his official version of events and publicly announced that he had indeed been aware of the allegations against Mr. Pincher at that time, but he had thought that they were resolved. The PM added that, in hindsight, he had made a mistake by appointing Mr. Pincher to such an important role amid the allegations.
This prompted the high-profile resignations of leading cabinet ministers, including Chancellor of the Exchequer (equivalent to secretary of the Treasury) Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
Standing up from the backbenches in parliament, Javid cited the reason for his resignation: “We have seen in great democracies what happens when divisions are entrenched and not bridged; we cannot allow that to happen here. Treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has become impossible in recent months… It is not fair for ministerial colleagues to go out every morning to defend lines that don’t stand up and don’t hold up.”