Boris Johnson is on the brink of being ousted from number 10 amid a spate of scathing resignations over his conduct and a growing chorus from both sides of the bench calling for his resignation. The mass exodus of ministers was sparked yesterday by two bomb threats as former Health Minister Sajid Javid and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak left their posts. Javid told the House of Commons on Wednesday that “enough is enough” as he claimed his party had misled him about the party gate. Mr Javid called on his former colleagues to act, saying: “They will have their own reasons” [for staying]† But they have a choice… Let’s be clear, not doing something is an active decision.
“I’m afraid the reset button can only work so many times. You can only turn that machine on and off so many times before you realize something is fundamentally wrong.”
Meanwhile, former Chancellor Sunak said in his resignation letter: “It has been a tremendous privilege to serve in this role, but I regret that I can no longer continue in good conscience.”
Now, a flurry of backbench MPs has called for a new vote of confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership.
So with the Prime Minister’s future more dangerous than ever, Express.co.uk asked: “Is it time for Boris to step down? And who should replace him as Prime Minister?”
The poll, which ran from 7 p.m. Tuesday to 3 p.m. Wednesday, yielded 8,886 responses from readers, with 52 percent saying Johnson should resign.
A remarkable 46 percent said the prime minister should remain in his role, while only two percent were unsure.
As for who should replace Mr Johnson if he stepped down, the majority – 29 per cent – were unsure who should become the next Tory leader and voted “I don’t know”.
Secretary of State Liz Truss was only the most popular candidate with 17 percent of the vote.
A close second was Secretary of International Trade Penny Mourdant with 16 percent.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who has been praised for his work on Ukraine, got 14 percent of the readership.
Rishi Sunak is next with six percent. Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and Tom Tugendhat all received four percent of the vote.
Outgoing health minister Sajid Javid had just two percent, as did new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi.
In the comments below the poll, Express.co.uk readers reflected the nation’s mixed emotions at a time of political turmoil. Some were angry, some wanted to move on and some supported the prime minister.
Username Leytonman wrote: “While I largely agree with you, there’s no getting around the fact that Boris hanged himself. Speaking as a Brexiteer, Boris only has himself to blame.”
And username JeanneV added: “None of the replacement names are as bad as Boris, Britain needs a prime minister who will end Britain’s last ties to the EU [and] puts Britain first!”
Others, like username rabey, preferred to point out other aspects of Johnson’s tenure.
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They wrote: “The truth is Boris has made all the right calls when it comes to the critical, major issues facing our UK.
“Brexit, the pandemic and support for Ukraine. Tea parties, the weird mistake of judging people, who cares.
“All the man on the street wants to know is that our country is on the right track to success.”
While username UKForever felt they spoke for everyone and said “17.4 people voted for Boris and the whole UK public wants him to stay as Prime Minister!”