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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Aletha Adu & Nia Dalton

Boris Johnson's seven worst moments as PM - from sickening Partygate to 'woeful fraud'

It is the first anniversary of Boris Johnson's resignation as Prime Minister after the disgraced former MP decided to jump before he was pushed on July 7, 2022.

Mr Johnson went from leading the Conservatives to their biggest election victory since 1987 to being shamefully ousted by his own party members within the space of just three years.

In an extraordinary fall from grace, his entire career was littered with gaffes and slurs, and his final departure was fuelled by numerous scandals, including Partygate.

Here are seven of the most embarrassing and dishonourable moments that show the immense collapse of his popularity as PM, all within his final six months on the job.

Disgusting Partygate

The first story of what soon became coined 'Partygate' broke on November 30, with the Daily Mirror reporting allegations that Downing Street staff held a number of lockdown-busting parties when London was under tight social distancing restrictions.

The claims initially made few waves and the Conservatives comfortably won the Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election two days later. Tory attempts to dampen the story's cut through with a number law and order announcements as part of "crime week" ended with the party defending itself from allegations of law breaking.

Allegra Stratton quit her Downing Street press secretary role after a video leaked to ITV news confirmed the Mirror's reports of lockdown parties. She was joking and practising excuses she would make to the press. Ms Stratton resigned a day later and Mr Johnson apologised at Prime Minister's Questions, saying he was "furious" about the video and appointed Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to investigate the allegations.

The Metropolitan Police closed its inquiries into the party last year without issuing any fines. But after the Mirror handed over the explosive video of the gathering last month, police decided to reopen its investigation. The force has also opened a new probe into a birthday bash for the wife of senior Tory Sir Bernard Jenkin in December 2020.

Woeful fraud

Tory minister Lord Agnew dramatically quit Mr Johnson's government over its "lamentable track record" on Covid loans fraud. He told the Lords that the Government's actions had been "desperately inadequate" with oversight of lenders "nothing less than woeful".

Lord Agnew surprised peers by outlining his unhappiness with working between the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Treasury. "Schoolboy errors were made, for example allowing over 1,000 companies to receive bounce back loans that were not even trading when Covid struck," he said in the Lords.

Tory sleaze

Owen Paterson quit as a Tory MP after a row over his conduct led to a humiliating government U-turn. The Conservative was found to have broken lobbying rules and was facing suspension - until Tory MPs blocked it by calling for an overhaul of the MPs' standards watchdog instead.

Mr Paterson was paid as a consultant for clinical diagnostics company Randox from 2015 and to meat distributor Lynn's Country Foods from 2016. He was found to have broken rules of MPs' conduct by failing to declare his interest as a paid consultant to Lynn's Country Foods in four emails to officials at the Food Standards Agency.

He was also blasted for using his parliamentary office on 26 occasions for business meetings with his clients. They initially had the backing of No 10, but Downing Street reversed its decision after a furious backlash.

Mr Johnson resigned as an MP on this day last year after accusing Commons of attempting to 'drive him out' (PA)

Shambolic scheme

The Government's handling of the Homes for Ukraine scheme was widely deemed shambolic. The PM initially stopped short of welcoming all Ukrainian refugees without an immediate family connection to the UK.

Then the Government made an embarrassing U-turn insisting the number of refugees from the crisis-torn nation would dramatically increase. Charities called for visa rights to be waived for those fleeing Ukraine, with some criticising the schemes as "not fit for purpose". Just before he handed in his notice, Mr Johnson admitted the UK could have reacted faster in helping Ukrainian refugees.

Rwanda row

Boris Johnson engaged in a bitter and almost pointless row with the Church of England who had criticised his Rwanda policy. The Archbishop of Canterbury slammed the policy in his Easter sermon claiming the bid to send some asylum seekers 4,000 miles to Rwanda raised "serious ethical questions". Justin Welby even said the policy cannot "stand the judgment of God".

Fighting back, the PM claimed they were "less vociferous" in their condemnation of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine than they were on the migration policy. But senior Tory MPs later questioned the logic behind the plans. In his letter of no confidence, former Tory minister Jesse Norman said the plans were "unnecessary and provocative".

Cost of living

Boris Johnson faced heavy criticism for failing to get a grip on the cost of living crisis. Weeks after the Chancellor unveiled his disastrous Spring Statement which did nothing to help the poorest Brits, the PM revealed a cost of living committee which had the sole aim of creating solutions to help struggling people.

This committee was announced at the end of April. Experts had warned of plunging living standards from the end of last year. A Tory MP told the Mirror their constituents had noted that the PM's failure to handle the crisis will turn people away from their party for years to come.

Loyal MPs quit

Mr Johnson's leadership took one last blow when Rishi Sunak quit as chancellor and Sajid Javid stepped down as health secretary, both writing incendiary resignation letters.

It came after his most loyal aid, Munira Mirza, quit in outrage at the PM's "inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse". Chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, director of communications Jack Doyle, and private secretary Mr Reynolds were also amongst the Downing Street members that resigned.

Mr Johnson eventually announced his resignation on July 7, 2022, following a tide of ministerial resignations - almost 60 MPs quit government or party posts to express their lack of confidence in his leadership.

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