Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a new wave of pressure to resign after it was revealed that he and Chancellor Rishi Sunak will be fined as part of the police probe into allegations of No 10 lockdown parties.
Carrie Johnson, the Prime Minister's wife, will also be receiving a fixed-penalty notice, a spokesperson confirmed. It comes as the Metropolitan Police announced an additional 30 fines to be handed out as part of Operation Hillman which is examining breaches of Covid-19 rules at the top level of government.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have today received notification that the Metropolitan Police intend to issue them with fixed penalty notices. We have no further details, but we will update you again when we do.”
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The incident has caused outrage among MPs with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer saying: "Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have broken the law and repeatedly lied to the British public. They must both resign. The Conservatives are totally unfit to govern. Britain deserves better.”
Does the Queen have the power to sack Boris Johnson?
While there is mounting pressure from all Parliamentary parties for Boris Johnson to resign, it is ultimately his choice. This has led to many people considering other ways the Prime Minister could be booted from power.
Constitutionally, the Queen is required to remain strictly neutral in Britain's political affairs, but she has a 'special relationship' with the prime minister and has meetings with him on a regular basis. Once a general election has concluded, the monarch appoints a prime minister who has the confidence of a majority of the House of Commons.
Despite most of her powers being ceremonial, it is understood that there is a way the Queen could remove a Prime Minister from power. However, such a move has not been made by a monarch in centuries.
The last time a prime minister was removed on a monarch's own authority in the UK was in 1834. In 2019, it was reported that the Queen allegedly asked aides for clarification on 'when and how she could dismiss a prime minister' amid a court hearing that ruled Mr Johnson unlawfully prorogued Parliament, according to the i.
Professor Robert Hazell from University College London previously told the Guardian that it may be possible - but only if the PM refused to step down following a vote of no confidence. He stated that the Queen "could dismiss Boris Johnson if he lost a vote of no confidence and refused to resign".
Professor Hazell added that this would only happen "if the House of Commons indicated clearly who should be appointed as prime minister in his place". If the number of letters needed to trigger a vote of no confidence in the prime minister is met, and MP's vote against Mr Johnson, the prime minister has two weeks to win a vote of confidence to stay in power.
Throughout those 14 days, Parliament could attempt to agree on another candidate for PM which they could put forth to the Queen, according to Hazell. “Then the Queen would be able, and would feel able, to dismiss Johnson if he was not willing himself to resign, and to appoint that new person as prime minister," he said.
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