Newsnight tickled viewers last night when it popped up Boris Johnson on a day when a record number of ministers resigned.
Ahead of speculation today, the Prime Minister reluctantly quit as Tory leader after a steady stream of resignations in his government turned into a torrent, the BBC devised a clever way to highlight the mass exodus.
With a touch of Bittersweet Symphony of course.
In a move that caused gamblers to call Newsnight to land the Bafta for Best Comedy, the closing credits at the end of Wednesday night’s program rolled out a list of the 43 ministers who had quit until the bad credits editor’s package. had composed.
It might not have been an easy job if a load more rested in the time between showing the clip and broadcasting it, but it was still a long list that ended with the words, ‘Boris Johnson – Prime Minister?’
If only they knew…
To a hauntingly beautiful backdrop, if we do say so ourselves, London Grammar’s live version of The Verve’s classic hit was played against a backdrop of Mr Johnson in black and white as the names rolled over his sad little expression.
Host Kirsty Wark was joined on the Newsnight couch by Financial Times’ Stephen Bush, Mr Johnson’s biographer Sonia Purnell, and money-saving expert Martin Lewis as she closed the episode.
Wark said: ‘On the night the Johnson administration’s resignation threatens to become a flood, we’ll leave you with the names of the first 43 of them. As Nick just said, there have been more since we’ve been on the air.
“See you tomorrow to find out who they are, when more will follow. Good night.’
Well, dear reader, there were indeed more and this morning the counter had crossed the 50 mark, with increasing pressure on Mr Johnson to resign.
Mr Johnson will “stop today” reporting that a letter of resignation has already been drafted and that a statement is expected within hours for 10 Downing Street.
The prime minister faced a spate of new resignations this morning, including the departure of Michelle Donelan as education secretary after less than 48 hours on the job.
Clearly Mr Johnson will plow through with the top job until a new party leader is electedis expected to take place by the time of the Conservative Party conference in October.
The double resignation of Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak on Tuesday created the knock-on effect of leaving that led to the situation the government is in now.
Following Mr Johnson’s resignation, the Conservative Party will once again look for a new leader.
In response to this morning’s bombshell news, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer blasted the ‘lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale’ seen during Mr Johnson’s time in office.
LAKE : Lorraine out of the blue as Prime Minister Boris Johnson would resign ‘soon’
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