From partygate to bad judgement, here are the five things that led to Boris Johnson resigning as PM

The Chris Pincher affair

On Wednesday 29 June, the MP Chris Pincher – at the time, the Conservative deputy chief whip – went to a private members’ club in London. In his words, he “drank far too much”.

He was accused of groping two men. That set off a chain of events that ended with the prime minister’s downfall.

Then Downing Street kept changing its story about what the PM knew. Downing Street said Mr Johnson was not aware of “specific allegations” about Mr Pincher before appointing him as deputy chief whip in February. But it turned out to be untrue.

Partygate

The prime minister was fined for breaking his own government’s lockdown rules after he attended a gathering for his birthday.

Mr Johnson apologised for going to a “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street garden.

Metropolitan Police issued 126 fines to 83 people for breaking lockdown rules in Downing Street and Whitehall.

The cost of living crisis

Like every country dealing with the post pandemic recovery, Britons are struggling with the rising cost of living.

While many of the reasons were outside of Boris Johnson’s control. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, for example, has led to rises in oil prices.

And while the government cut fuel duty by 5p per litre – it also went ahead with a tax rise in April. 

Owen Paterson affair

In October last year, a House of Commons committee recommended a 30-day suspension for Conservative MP Owen Paterson. 

The committee said he broke lobbying rules.

But the Conservatives – led by the prime minister – voted to pause his suspension, and set up a new committee to look at how investigations were carried out.

Needless to say, it didn’t end well.

End of the line

In the end, the PM ran out of time and ideas to fix the many woes impacting Britain.

He won a huge majority on the promise of getting Brexit done. And to his credit, he cut through the clutter.

But since then, his critics said, there was a lack of focus and ideas in Downing Street.

His ex-adviser turned chief critic, Dominic Cummings, repeatedly accused him of being an out-of-control shopping trolley, veering from position to position.