LONDON — It’s been dubbed “the long goodbye.”
Boris Johnson, the rumpled, brazen prime minister who in his naysayer-defying career led Conservatives to a historic win, ushered in a new style of British politicking and pulled his nation out of the European Union, finally came tumbling down this week under the weight of insurmountable scandals and dozens of resignations by his ministers.
But Johnson, who after refusing for days to step down relented Thursday, will remain in office while the ruling Conservative Party chooses his successor, a process that could take weeks or even months. It will be a painfully slow departure for a man whose already shaky reputation was further chipped away this year after revelations of boozy parties at his official residence during COVID lockdowns and, more recently, his botched responses after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against a lawmaker whom he promoted to an upper-level government job.
