Boris Johnson has resigned as Tory leader.
For so many Tory MPs who’ve been frustrated with him over the years - not to mention the public - it’s been a very long time coming.
The final straw was a scandal which united sexual impropriety and the Prime Minister’s personal integrity - both hissing fuses in the party.
It emerged the PM had been told of claims against “grope” accused Tory MP Chris Pincher, but then promoted him anyway.
Later, No10 would claim the PM had forgotten he had been told - twice - about claims against Mr Pincher.
But by now it was too late. For the first wave of Tories, this itself was reason to resign. Then others hitched other wagons to the coup and quit too. Finally, loyalists threw in the towel because the government could no longer function.
More than 50 resignations didn’t come out of nowhere. Here we look back at some of the more shameful episodes in the long career of the 58-year-old Prime Minister.
1. When he was sacked for making up a quote
The Times sacked Boris Johnson in 1988 for making up a quote in a front-page story.
The then-journalist, aged 23, fabricated a claim by his godfather, academic Colin Lucas, that Edward II and his lover Piers Gaveston would have cavorted in a newly discovered Rose Palace.
In what he later called “my biggest cock-up”, it emerged the Palace was only built long after Gaveston was murdered.
Rather than admit his lie Mr Johnson wrote a further story saying “the mystery had deepened”. He then admitted in 2013: “I mildly sandpapered something somebody said, and yes it’s very embarrassing and I’m very sorry about it.”
2. When he was sacked for lying about an affair
In 2004 he was sacked as Shadow Arts Minister after aides to leader Michael Howard decided he had lied about an affair.
Mr Johnson denied reports of a four-year fling with journalist Petronella Wyatt, saying: “I have not had an affair with Petronella. It is complete balderdash.”
But her mother said the affair did happen - and Petronella had an abortion as a result.
Lady Verushka Wyatt added: “The reason she went out with him was because he said he was going to marry her.” Ms Wyatt admits the pair had a “tendresse”.
Michael Howard added: “My director of communications at the time was convinced Boris had lied to him.”
3. When he discussed having a journalist beaten up
Boris Johnson had a 1990 phone call with former Eton pal Darius Guppy, who was jailed for five years in 1993 for his part in an insurance fraud.
Mr Guppy wanted contact details for News of the World journalist Stuart Collier, who was investigating his affairs.
Asked by Mr Johnson “how badly are you going to hurt this guy”, he replied the journalist “will not be seriously hurt” but “will probably get a couple of black eyes and... a cracked rib.”
Mr Johnson could be heard seeking assurances he would not get in "trouble" before saying: "OK, Darrie, I said I'll do it."
No attack ever took place and Mr Johnson said in 2013 he was just “humouring” his old pal.
4. When he endangered a British mum jailed in Iran
Boris Johnson worsened the plight of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in loose comments he made as Foreign Secretary in 2017.
He wrongly told MPs the British mum, held in Iran on spying charges, was “teaching people journalism”.
That undermined her defence that she was on holiday - one backed up by her employers.
Four days after Mr Johnson’s comments she was threatened with five more years’ jail on charges of “propaganda against the regime”.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was eventually released in March 2022 and condemned the government, saying: "How many Foreign Secretaries does it take for someone to come home? Five? What’s happened now should have happened six years ago."
5. When he called black people 'piccaninnies'
He wrote in the Telegraph in 2002: "It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies."
Speaking of Tony Blair ’s trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, he said: “No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, and the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh.
“And the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down in his big white British taxpayer-funded bird.”
Mr Johnson later defended his comments, branding them “wholly satirical”.
6. When he mocked Muslim women as 'letterboxes'
In August 2018 he branded Muslim face veils “oppressive”, “weird and bullying” and said it was “absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letterboxes".
Any female student who turned up to school "looking like a bank robber" should be asked to remove their face covering, he added.
He went on to argue against banning the burqa in public, but his snide remarks prompted outrage, including from senior Tories.
He refused to apologise and was cleared of breaching the Conservative Party code of conduct.
7. When he used racist terms to describe Barack Obama
Mr Johnson used a racist description of Barack Obama at the height of the EU referendum in 2016.
He claimed a bust of Winston Churchill in the Oval Office had been removed around the time the US President moved in.
He remarked: “Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan President's ancestral dislike of the British Empire, of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender." Those condemning his “nasty” comments included Winston Churchill’s Tory grandson.
Barack Obama - who was born in the US - revealed he had actually moved the bust to a prime spot outside his private office, saying: "I love Winston Churchill. Love the guy."
8. When he propagated the £350m-a-week Brexit lie
Boris Johnson was a figurehead of the 2016 Vote Leave campaign, fuelling their lie that the UK sent the EU £350million a week.
He rode the infamous battle bus emblazoned with the figure and appeared in front of a banner that said: “Let’s give our NHS the £350million the EU takes every week.”
The UK Statistics Authority said the figure was £285m a week, without factoring EU payments to the UK. With only the most basic EU payments (directly to the UK public sector) factored in, that dropped to £190m.
He carried on using the debunked figure for more than a year and was accused of a “clear misuse of official statistics” by the data watchdog.
9. When he repeatedly ignored conflict-of-interest rules
Boris Johnson broke rules on financial interests three times in less than a year. He breached the Ministerial Code in August 2018 by starting a £275,000-a-year newspaper column just three days after quitting as Foreign Secretary.
In December 2018 he was ordered to apologise for failing to declare £52,723 of income on time.
And in April 2019 he was 11 months late registering his 20% share in a property in Somerset.
Parliament’s Standards Commissioner accused him of a “lack of respect” for the system adding: "I do not accept that this was an inadvertent breach of the rules."
10. When he blew millions on his Garden Bridge ‘vanity project’
As mayor, Boris Johnson backed a failed plan for a “floating paradise” across the River Thames that blew £43million of public money.
The Garden Bridge was beset by controversy from the start until it was finally scrapped by his successor Sadiq Khan in 2017.
Critics blasted the link for being privately run, yet publicly subsidised, while there was a more pressing need for Thames crossings elsewhere.
Yet Boris Johnson was a doughty defender of the “vanity project” - even making a secretive trip to San Francisco in 2013 in a bid to get Apple to sponsor it.
11. When he wasted £300,000 on illegal water cannon
As London mayor he paid £322,000 for three second-hand water cannon devices after the 2014 riots.
The bill included £32,004 for low emission zone compliance, £19,035 for re-painting and almost £1,000 to fit CD players.
But he bought them before they had been licensed for use in Britain.
And they were left to rust in a police firing range after their use was ruled illegal by then-Home Secretary Theresa May .
Finally in 2018 they were sold for scrap - for the princely sum of £11,025.
12. When he had a blazing row with his partner in her flat
Police were called to the flat Johnson shared with then-girlfriend Carrie Symonds after a blazing row in June 2019.
Neighbour Tom Penn dialled 999 after he heard "get off me" and "get out of my flat”, and "a loud scream and banging, followed by silence".
He then handed a tape of the incident to the Guardian newspaper - prompting a furious backlash from Johnson supporters.
Boris Johnson refused to comment on the incident, citing his privacy.
But he was accused of hypocrisy when a “staged” loved-up photo of him and Ms Symonds was then leaked to the press.
13. When it took years to confirm how many children he had
Boris Johnson has at least seven children but he has spent years refusing to confirm the exact number.
He split from wife Marina Wheeler. The couple, who married in 1993, had four children - Lara, Milo Arthur, Cassia Peaches, and Theodore Apollo.
But he has had multiple affairs, including the one with Petronella Wyatt (above) which led to a pregnancy that was terminated.
And a 2013 court ruling said the public were entitled to know about claims that one affair - with art consultant Helen Macintyre - resulted in a daughter who was his, Stephanie.
Finally he has had two children, Wilfred and Romy, with wife Carrie. Before Romy’s birth he told a US interviewer he had six kids.
14. When he called gay men 'tank-topped bumboys'
In a 1998 Telegraph column about Peter Mandelson's resignation, Johnson said the announcement would lead to the blubbing of “tank-topped bumboys" in "the Ministry of Sound" nightclub.
Two years later in a Spectator article, he attacked what he called "Labour's appalling agenda, encouraging the teaching of homosexuality in schools, and all the rest of it".
And in a 2002 book he said: “If gay marriage was OK… I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men, or indeed three men and a dog.”
15. When he made a glib remark about ‘dead bodies' in Libya
The then-Foreign Secretary was slammed in 2017 for saying the Libyan city of Sirte had a bright future - as soon as they "clear the dead bodies away".
The crass gaffe drew gasps at an event during the Conservative Party conference.
"They've got a brilliant vision to turn Sirte, with the help of the municipality of Sirte, to turn it into the next Dubai,” he said.
"The only thing they've got to do is clear the dead bodies away and then we'll be there."
16. When he recited a colonial-era poem in Myanmar
In an incredible diplomatic gaffe in 2017, he recited the opening verse to Rudyard Kipling's The Road to Mandalay at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar's capital Yangon.
Kipling’s poem captures the nostalgia of a retired serviceman looking back on his colonial service and a Burmese girl he kissed.
The ambassador, Andrew Patrick, said between gritted teeth "probably not a good idea" and added: "Not appropriate."
17. When he boasted about whisky in a Sikh temple
The Foreign Secretary was berated at a Sikh temple for talking about whisky exports to India – despite alcohol being forbidden in the faith.
He said at the Bristol temple in 2017: “Whenever we go to India, to Mumbai or to Delhi, we have to bring ‘clinkie’ in our luggage.
“We have to bring Johnnie Walker, we have to bring whisky because as you may know there is a duty of 150% in India on imports of Scotch whisky so we have to bring it in duty free for our relatives. But imagine what we could do if there was a free trade deal with India – which there will be.”
A woman reportedly told Mr Johnson: "How dare you talk about alcohol in a Sikh temple?"
18. When he insulted the entire city of Liverpool
Tory leader Michael Howard forced the MP to visit Liverpool to apologise in 2004 after he blamed fans for Hillsborough - and accused citizens of “wallowing in victim status”.
The Spectator - which he was editing at the time - printed an editorial saying the tragedy was “no excuse for Liverpool’s failure to acknowledge, even to this day, the part played in the disaster by drunken fans at the back of the crowd who mindlessly tried to fight their way into the ground that Saturday afternoon.”
Smearing Liverpudlians, the editorial added: “They see themselves whenever possible as victims, and resent their victim status; yet at the same time they wallow in it.”
An independent report and the 2016 inquests ruled there was nothing to suggest fans’ behaviour contributed to the disaster.
In 2012 Mr Johnson apologised again, admitting claims about football fans' behaviour were a “lie”.
19. When he insulted the entire country of Papua New Guinea
Boris Johnson apologised to the entire country of Papua New Guinea in 2006 for joking about their "orgies of cannibalism".
The then shadow higher education minister wrote in the Telegraph: "For 10 years we in the Tory Party have become used to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing."
But Papua New Guinea's High Commissioner in London, Jean L Kekedo, branded the remarks "an insult" to her nation's "integrity and intelligence".
She added: "I am shocked and appalled by such comments from a seemingly well-educated person."
Mr Johnson later said: "I meant no insult to the people of Papua New Guinea who I'm sure lead lives of blameless bourgeois domesticity in common with the rest of us."
20. When he said Africa needs its old Colonial powers to come back
The former journalist wrote a lengthy Spectator column in 2002 headlined "cancel the guilt trip".
It argued Africa "is a mess" with "too many people dying" but it was unfair to blame the bloody legacy of British colonialism.
He concluded: "The best fate for Africa would be if the old colonial powers, or their citizens, scrambled once again in her direction; on the understanding that this time they will not be asked to feel guilty."
Showing the supposed superiority of those "colonial powers" 14 years later, he memorably called Africa "that country". Africa is a continent of more than 50 countries.
21. When he claimed money probing child abuse was 'spaffed up a wall'
In March 2019, Boris Johnson said police spending on child sexual abuse investigations was "spaffed up a wall".
He said: "Keeping numbers high on the streets is certainly important. But it depends where you spend the money and where you deploy the officers.
"And one comment I would make is I think an awful lot of money and an awful lot of police time now goes into these historic offences and all this malarkey.
"You know, £60 million I saw was being spaffed up a wall on some investigation into historic child abuse."
The NSPCC said the former Foreign Secretary’s language was “crass.”
22. When he ‘made up’ a story about small Italian penises
As the Daily Telegraph's Brussels correspondent in 1991, he wrote a story claiming EU chiefs had rejected Italian demands for a smaller minimum condom width.
Mr Johnson claimed the decision had left "Italian egos smarting". But aptly-named former top EU chief Willy Hélin told The Guardian the story was a "load of bulls***".
"We had had requests from medical institutions across Europe to check on the safety of condoms," he said. "That has nothing to do with the size of dicks."
While in Brussels Mr Johnson popularised a new style of anti-EU journalism, sowing seeds of resentment that helped cause Brexit 25 years later.
23. When he enraged Italy with a threat about Prosecco
Boris Johnson angered Italy in 2016 by threatening to stop buying Prosecco in a bad Brexit deal.
"We drink more Italian wine than any other country in Europe - 300m litres of Prosecco every year,” he said. “They are not going to put that at risk.”
But Economy minister Carlo Calenda branded the Foreign Secretary's approach "insulting" and "wishful thinking".
He sad: "I said 'yeah, maybe we're going to lose some Prosecco. You're going to lose some fish and chips exports. The difference is I'm going to lose to one country - you to 27.'"
24. When he called the French ‘turds’ who ‘shafted Britain’
In June 2019 it was claimed Boris Johnson branded the French "turds" who "shafted Britain" over Brexit.
He made the remark, during filming for a BBC documentary, out of frustration over France refusing a better deal.
According to the Daily Mail, the BBC removed the word "turds" from the finished documentary at the request of the Foreign Office.
A leaked Whitehall memo allegedly said the remark becoming public would make Anglo-French relations “awkward.”
He refused to deny making the slur, saying with a grin: “I have no recollection of this comment.”
25. When he compared the EU to Adolf Hitler
During the 2016 EU referendum campaign Boris Johnson compared the EU to Adolf Hitler - saying they both wanted a united Europe.
“Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically,” he wrote. “The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods.”
Hilary Benn, who was the shadow foreign secretary, said the comparison was "offensive and desperate".
But Boris Johnson refused to apologise over what he called an “artificial media twit storm”.
26. When he proclaimed ‘f*** business’
Boris Johnson ranted “f*** business” over Brexit at a reception to mark the Queen's birthday.
The Foreign Secretary was said to have uttered the reply in 2018, at an event for EU diplomats, when he was asked about business leaders' fears over leaving the EU.
He and allies repeatedly refused to deny using the phrase.
Instead a source said he was “attacking lobbyists like the EU-funded CBI who are more interested in doing what's right for big multinational corporations."
27. When he allegedly said ‘f*** the families’ of the 7/7 bombings
Another alleged outburst came when he was Mayor of London and being briefed about the cost of inquests into the 2005 London terror attacks, which killed 52.
Brian Coleman, who was chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, claims Boris Johnson erupted in fury and said: “F*** the families! F*** the families!”
A second source told the Sunday Mirror he was certain Boris used the offensive words.
But a third source, at the meeting, disputed Mr Coleman’s account.
28. When he branded Hillary Clinton a ‘sadistic mental health nurse’
Boris Johnson compared Hillary Clinton to a “sadistic” mental health nurse in a 2007 column.
Saying he wanted her to be President, he wrote: “She's got dyed blonde hair and pouty lips, and a steely blue stare, like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital.”
After becoming Foreign Secretary he was grilled on the comment in his first joint press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
But he said: “It would really take me too long to engage in a full global itinerary of apology.”
29. When he refused to back our Ambassador to the US
Boris Johnson faced a storm in July 2019 for refusing to stand up for Britain's Ambassador to the US.
Sir Kim Darroch quit after Mr Johnson failed to promise he could keep his job over leaked memos about the "inept" White House.
Mr Johnson - who stands to gain by installing a more pro-Brexit envoy - was accused by a serving Foreign Office minister of throwing the diplomat “under the bus”.
He later confessed he was a "factor" in the diplomat's resignation, adding: "I probably should have been more emphatic that Kim personally had my full support."
30. When he took a £20,000 flight to avoid scrutiny on Heathrow Airport
As Foreign Secretary he blew more than £20,000 of taxpayers’ cash on a visit to Kabul - conveniently timed to miss a Commons vote on expanding Heathrow Airport.
In 2015 Boris Johnson - whose constituency is near the hub - promised to lay down before the bulldozers to stop a third runway.
But his trip to Afghanistan meant he didn’t have to vote one way or the other - a decision which could have prompted either constituents’ fury or a sacking from the Cabinet.
Mr Johnson has since weakened his opposition to Heathrow. In June 2019 he only said he had “grave reservations” rather than vowing to block it.
31. When be branded his £250k-a-year pocket money ‘chicken feed’
He made more than £700,000 in earnings alongside his job as an MP through the year after he quit as Foreign Secretary.
They included a £275,000-a-year column in the Daily Telegraph and more than £400,000 for speeches, including £42,580 for a single speech promoting a No Deal Brexit .
In 2009 he described his column, which at the time paid £250,000, as “chicken feed”.
And in July 2019 he claimed he’d set aside “self-interest” by giving up these outside earnings when he becomes Prime Minister.
He said: “It is obviously possible to make more money by not being a full time politician.”
32. When he was accused of a major conflict of interest
A string of ethics probes were launched into Boris Johnson in September 2019 after the Sunday Times revealed his friendship with the model-turned-tech entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri.
The London Assembly - whose rules forbid favourable treatment to friends - launched an investigation after the relatively novice American went on three trade missions Mr Johnson led as mayor in 2014 and 2015.
Ms Arcuri - who later said they had an affair - admitted Mr Johnson visited her combined flat and office in Shoreditch a "handful" of times.
The PM was branded “unfit for office” after insisting there was “no interest to declare”.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct later found "some evidence that Mr Johnson and Ms Arcuri may have been in an intimate relationship" and if so, “it would have been wise for him to have declared this as a conflict of interest”. Not doing so could have breached the principles of public life, the IOPC found.
33. When he purged Churchill’s grandson from the Tories to shore up his base
The Prime Minister faced outrage in September 2019 when he brutally purged some of the longest-serving Tories from the party.
Winston Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames and longest-serving MP Ken Clarke were among 21 who lost the whip - followed later by a 22nd, Amber Rudd.
Their crime? Backing a bid to delay Brexit beyond October 31 to prevent no-deal.
Just months earlier, the Conservative Party had been tolerant of these moderates who wanted to stop a disastrous crash-out from the EU.
But Boris Johnson opted for the hardline approach to shore up the Brexit vote, despite his long history as a fairly liberal One Nation Tory.
Ten of the 21 were later let back in but Clarke and Soames quit before the election.
34. When he kept trying to use public money to attack Labour in the election
As the general election got under way in October 2019, he made political comments standing in front of police cadets (one of whom fainted).
He also spent a day after an election was confirmed touring hospitals and police - paid for by public funds.
He was accused of misusing taxpayer cash too when he put out a string of Facebook adverts - later banned - which promoted left-behind towns.
And his bid to use Treasury civil servants to cost Labour ’s policies was blocked at the last moment by the Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill.
35. When he unlawfully shut down Parliament
In September 2019, the Supreme Court ruled he acted unlawfully by shutting down Parliament over Brexit.
The PM faced demands to resign after the UK's highest court ruled unanimously that he acted unlawfully.
11 justices said shutting down the Commons for five weeks before the Brexit deadline - which he claimed was a bog standard prorogation - had an "extreme" effect on democracy.
Declaring the prorogation of Parliament "unlawful, void and of no effect", Supreme Court President Lady Hale declared: "Parliament has not been prorogued."
36. When his ‘clear plan’ for social care did not appear
Boris Johnson promised he had a “clear plan.. prepared” for social care in a speech on the steps of Downing Street in July 2019.
But the plan took more than two years to materialise.
Eventually in September 2021, he announced a hike to National Insurance from April 2022 to fund social care and slash the NHS backlog caused by the pandemic.
But the majority of the first £36bn will go to the NHS in England, with only £5.4bn over the three years earmarked for social care.
And the PM later U-turned on a plan to spare the poorest homeowners some costs, barring them from counting council payments towards a £86,000 cap on care costs.
37. When tens of thousands of people died ‘who didn’t need to’
“Tens of thousands of people died, who didn't need to die".
That was the explosive claim from the PM's former aide Dominic Cummings.
Mr Cummings told MPs that the PM was consistently anti-lockdown, ignored scientific advice and failed to take Covid seriously.
He also claimed the PM ranted “we should never have done lockdown 1” and any border control would ruin the travel industry.
Mr Cummings said: "It’s completely crackers that someone like me should have been in there, just as it’s crackers that Boris was in there and the choice at the last election was Jeremy Corbyn.
“The problem in this crisis was very much lions led by donkeys over and over again.”
38. When he claimed to have ‘got Brexit done’
Mr Johnson won the 2019 election on a manifesto promising to "get Brexit done" - which he duly claimed to have achieved on entering office.
The Brexit deal passed in the Commons in December 2019 and the UK severed its ties with Brussels in January 2020.
The PM then claimed he had "got Brexit done", despite lengthy trade negotiations continuing until a deal was agreed before Christmas 2020.
But the UK has now published plans to tear up that “oven-ready” deal with its own system for Northern Ireland, in a move the EU says will breach international law. It’s been condemned by Theresa May.
39. When he ignored a ruling on Priti Patel’s ‘bullying’
A November 2020 report by the PM’s adviser on Ministerial Standards, Sir Alex Allan, found Home Secretary Priti Patel broke the Ministerial Code "even if unintentionally”.
It added she “shouted and swore” in reported incidents that “would meet the definition” of bullying.
Yet Sir Alex resigned after Boris Johnson unilaterally overturned his findings, decided Ms Patel didn't break the Code and refused to sack her. He told MPs to “form a square around the Prittster”.
40. When he ranted about ‘bodies piling high’ and 80-year-olds getting Covid
The PM reportedly declared he would rather "let the bodies pile high in their thousands" than call another lockdown in the autumn of 2020.
The alleged remarks, which emerged first in the Daily Mail, were dismissed by Downing Street.
But Dominic Cummings told MPs that he heard the PM make the comment after his decision to implement a second lockdown on 31 October 2020.
Boris Johnson also allegedly claimed coronavirus patients “live longer”, according to bombshell text messages shown by the BBC.
In texts to aides, Mr Johnson said: “I must say I have been slightly rocked by some of the data on Covid fatalities.
“The median age is 82 – 81 for men 85 for women. That is above life expectancy. So get COVID and live longer.”
41. When lucrative Covid contracts went to Tory allies
The Government awarded thousands of contracts to private companies as they battled to get vital equipment such as PPE and tests at the start of the pandemic.
Billions of pounds worth of deals were handed to associates of ministers and officials during the early months of the pandemic.
The High Court ruled earlier this month that a so-called VIP lane to hand out PPE contracts to two firms was unlawful.
In a challenge brought by the Good Law Project and campaign group EveryDoctor, a judge ruled the operation of the "high priority lane" was "was in breach of the obligation of equal treatment… the illegality is marked by this judgment."
But Mrs Justice O'Farrell found both of the companies' offers "justified priority treatment on its merits" and were "very likely" to have been awarded contracts even without the VIP lane.
42. When he refused to sack Dominic Cummings
The controversial former aide became a household name when the Mirror revealed he had travelled to Durham during the first lockdown, including the famous trip to Barnard Castle.
Mr Cummings refused to resign despite widespread public anger - and Boris Johnson stood by him.
The PM's failure to sack Mr Cummings at the time cost him a significant amount of political capital.
43. When he repeatedly said things he knew weren’t true
A whole article could be devoted to things the Prime Minister has said in Parliament that he knew, or should have known, weren’t true.
But one example is a helpful record.
In April 2022 he made a claim to Parliament that he already admitted was untrue weeks earlier, and apparently promised not to use again.
The Prime Minister told PMQs there were “more people in work than there were before the pandemic”. Yet less than a month earlier, he accepted a correction about that very figure from the UK Statistics Authority.
While people on payrolls were up since pre-Covid, the number of people in jobs overall was still down by 580,000 compared to December 2019-February 2020, previous figures suggested.
44. When he broke his manifesto promise over National Insurance and pensions
Boris Johnson U-turned on his central manifesto vow not to increase taxes in September by hiking National Insurance to fix health and social care.
The tax rose from 12% to 13.25% from April 2022 to raise £12bn a year. The PM later cut the tax from July 2022, but this was cancelled out by April’s rise for anyone earning £37k or more.
But only £5.4bn of the £36bn raised in the first three years will go to social care.
He also scrapped the pensions triple lock for a year from April 2022 in another manifesto breach.
45. When he repeatedly battled Marcus Rashford over free school meals
The PM was forced into two U-turns by footballer Marcus Rashford over feeding hungry children during the holidays.
The Tories went to war with the Manchester United forward - and lost - in a damaging battle over free school meals.
In June 2020 the PM caved to Rashford’s demand to give more than a million kids supermarket vouchers over the summer break.
The government had refused to issue £15-a-week vouchers, instead pledging a £63m pot for the worst-hit.
But hours after forcing ministers to defend the position, Boris Johnson changed his mind in a Cabinet meeting.
In November, the PM made another U-turn on kids’ food over half term.
Tory MPs had refused to extend the £15 vouchers over the October half term - prompting fury, and businesses and charities to step in.
But the PM then announced a £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme for Christmas. It provided extra help - though it no longer gave £15 vouchers to every eligible family, and went further than just paying for food.
46. When he spent taxpayer cash on THREE vanity photographers
Mr Johnson was accused of splurging public cash on "vanity" snappers when it emerged had had three photographers working in Downing Street.
Press photographers cover the PM's activities for newspapers but the PM hired a new promotional photographer last February on a salary of up to £60,635 a year.
He already had photographer Andrew Parsons working part-time as a special adviser and another civil service photographer is thought to have been on secondment to No10 from the Ministry of Defence since early 2020.
47. When he blew £1m on a non-existent bridge to Northern Ireland
Boris Johnson's madcap plan for a bridge to Northern Ireland cost the taxpayer almost a million pounds - although it was never built.
A study commissioned by the Prime Minister found a fixed link between Scotland and Northern Ireland would be too expensive.
The study alone cost almost £900,000.
48. When he tried to tear up ethics rules to save a mate
The PM ordered Tory MPs to rip up ethics rules and block a 30-day suspension of Conservative Owen Paterson for lobbying breaches.
The vote passed, but more than 100 Conservatives refused to back the plans and Keir Starmer accused the government of corruption.
Mr Johnson U-turned less than 24 hours later, as Labour boycotted the body which would have drawn up new standards.
Mr Paterson later resigned as a Tory MP.
The Liberal Democrats pulled off a sensational upset in the by-election in his North Shropshire seat the following month.
49. When he tried to get others to pay for a lavish revamp of his flat
Boris Johnson has been dogged by questions over a £110,000-plus makeover of his No 11 flat.
The PM tried to get Tory donor Lord Brownlow to fund the work, before the idea fell apart and he had to settle the bill himself after a media storm.
The Conservative Party was fined £17,800 by the Electoral Commission for breaching electoral law over the way the money was recorded.
And key texts which showed the PM asking for more cash - and promising to raise Lord Brownlow’s idea of a Great Exhibition 2.0 in return - were withheld from ethics advisor Lord Geidt, Boris Johnson’s second after Sir Alex Allan resigned.
Lord Geidt stayed on after that row but then quit in furious protest in June 2022, weeks after clashing with the PM over his Partygate behaviour.
Mr Johnson blocked a plea for Lord Geidt to be able to launch Ministerial Code probes into his behaviour, without the PM’s permission.
50. And finally… When he ‘lied to Parliament’ over Downing Street parties
Lest we forget, Boris Johnson became the first Prime Minister to commit a criminal offence in office.
He was fined £50 by police for attending his birthday party on 19 June 2020, in breach of his own Covid laws.
He has also been accused of lying to Parliament about Partygate.
The Privileges Committee is investigating whether he misled MPs when he said no rules were broken in No10 - despite the Sue Gray report showing he took part in several gatherings with crowds of people and alcohol.
Downing Street spent weeks, even months trying to deny the full extent of his involvement - then relentlessly downplaying the scandal and trashing the Mirror for revealing it.
For many families who lost people to Covid, this alone was a reason Boris Johnson should have gone a long time ago.
