‘GLAD to see him go’ - that was the message of the people of Brighton and Hove after Boris Johnson announced he will resign as Prime Minister.
Johnson appeared outside Number 10 just after midday yesterday and said it was “clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party and so a new Prime Minister”.
The Prime Minister said he will remain in post over the summer while the Conservative Party elect a new leader, but some Conservatives are calling for Johnson to leave office immediately.
Green MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas slammed Johnson’s address to the nation as “insulting until the end” and lacking contrition and dignity.
The Argus went out on the streets of Brighton to ask people what they thought about the decision for the Prime Minister to quit.
Frances Skinner, 65, said that while she thought Johnson was a “good person” who had made several accomplishments in office, but “his dishonesty has outweighed, unfortunately, any good that he has done”.
Giulia Mifsud, 18, said the Prime Minister should leave office now and questioned why he should stay on in office for potentially several months while the Conservative Party elect a new leader.
“What’s the point in having a Prime Minister that you can’t trust? He should go immediately - he’s already done all he can,” she said.
Amanda Kemp, 52, said that while he had a hard time as Prime Minister - facing the challenges the pandemic caused, “I think we’re glad to see the back of him”.
However, some residents expressed their disappointment at the news and praised Johnson for his achievements in office, including securing Britain’s exit from the European Union, the vaccine rollout and the UK’s support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
One supporter of the Prime Minister, who didn’t want to be named, said: “The man’s a genius. He got us through Covid, got us through Brexit and he’s basically been pooed on.”
64-year-old Kevin Taylor said that Conservative MPs had betrayed the Prime Minister and said: “I think he’s done very well with Brexit and I think he’s been stabbed in the back.”
In his address to the nation, Johnson said: “In the last few days I have tried to convince my colleagues it would be eccentric to change governments when we are delivering so much, when we have a vast mandate and when we’re only a handful of points behind in the polls.
“I regret not to have been successful in those arguments and, of course, it’s painful not to be able to see through so many projects myself. But as we’ve seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful, and when the herd moves, it moves.
“I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world - but them’s the breaks.”
However, Caroline Lucas accused the Prime Minister of arrogance, lacked contrition and said that he should resign immediately.
She said: “He’s been forced to go by his own party because he isn’t fit to serve. Always arrogant and no comprehension of how grimly inappropriate it is for him to stay one more day in Downing Street.”
Kemp Town MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle shared this view and said that if Johnson stays for several more months as Prime Minister, it will “damage the country and his enablers will still fail to deal with the cost of living, push forward in scrapping the Human Rights Act and a host of other nasty laws”.
Meanwhile, Peter Kyle, MP for Hove and shadow Northern Ireland secretary, echoed comments made by Labour leader Keir Starmer and said: “It’s not a change of Tory we need, it’s a change of government.
“Labour with Keir Starmer’s leadership is the fresh start we need.”
Six Sussex Conservative MPs had been among those to call for the Prime Minister to step down, with Mid Sussex MP Mims Davies resigning from her post as employment minister.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Ms Davies said that the work of government had been “overshadowed by what has unfolded from the heart of government in Downing Street”.
In a damning and scathing letter, MP for Bexhill and Battle Huw Merriman said the Prime Minister had failed “in terms of judgement, competency and integrity”.
He said: “If we allow standards expected of those in public service to fall, we will lose the trust of the public and we will never attract the high calibre, trustworthy and hard-working individuals into politics or public service.”
Argus readers have been quick to suggest who they want to see replace the Prime Minister, ranging from Caroline Lucas and Keir Starmer, to commentator Piers Morgan, presenter Jeremy Clarkson, former glamour model Katie Price and even Donald Duck.
After piloting Albion to a top ten finish in the Premier League last season, many Argus readers also said that Graham Potter should take up the new vacancy at Number 10.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace is said to be the favourite to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, according to a poll of Conservative Party members by YouGov.
The poll of 716 party members suggested that Wallace would beat other contenders for the leadership in a head-to-head race, including former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, foreign secretary Liz Truss and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt.
The Prime Minister’s resignations come after several scandals that have plagued his premiership, including fines for parties held in Downing Street at the height of lockdown and his decision to hire Chris Pincher to the Cabinet - who has been accused of sexual assault.
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