LONDON, July 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held his last scheduled Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, receiving first editions of books by wartime leader Winston Churchill on World War II as a parting gift.
The meeting was held on the hottest day in British history, after Johnson was criticised by the opposition for failing to attend emergency meetings set up to discuss the heatwave response.
Johnson is remaining in office until his successor is named, after saying he would step down having lost support of his party’s members of parliament.
His downfall followed a series of scandals over lockdown parties at Downing Street and the handling of allegations against lawmakers.
It marks a remarkable collapse for a prime minister who in 2019 won the biggest Conservative vote share since 1979.
Johnson’s spokesman said the prime minister used his final Cabinet meeting to emphasise his success in lifting COVID-19 lockdowns. Asked if Johnson had reflected on the mistakes that had brought him down, the spokesman said: “I don’t have any more to add on that”.
“At the conclusion of Cabinet, the prime minister was presented with gifts to thank him for his service to the country, including first editions of Winston Churchill’s books on the Second World War,” the spokesman told reporters.
Churchill is a hero of Johnson’s, and the prime minister has written a biography of him.
Johnson’s successor is set to be announced on Sept 5, and there are no Cabinet meetings scheduled until then, while parliament is in summer recess.
Meanwhile, former finance minister Rishi Sunak again topped the latest vote by Conservative MPs to choose a new prime minister, as another candidate was eliminated to leave three contenders in the race.
Sunak garnered 118 votes, followed by former defence minister Penny Mordaunt on 92 and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on 86, with longshot candidate Kemi Badenoch trailing on 59 and therefore eliminated from the contest.
The vote means that Britain will get either its first British Asian prime minister or the third female leader in the country’s history.
Sunak, whose resignation helped to topple outgoing leader Boris Johnson, fell two votes short of the number needed to guarantee a place among the final two, who will battle it out over the summer before party members choose the winner.
He is all but guaranteed to make the final cut in Wednesday’s (Jul 20) last round of voting by MPs.
But the race to join him further tightened, with Truss making up five votes on Mordaunt – the one-time bookmaker’s favourite.
Truss is now only six behind, and will hope that the right wing of the party swings behind her following the departure of Badenoch, a favourite of the grassroots members. — NNN-AGENCIES
