Boris Johnson | South China Morning Post

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Boris Johnsoni

Latest news, in-depth features and opinion on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The Conservative Party politician has been PM since July 2019. He previously held the position of foreign secretary between 2016 and 2018.

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The then London mayor said his open jacket at the Beijing Olympics reflected ‘openness’ and ‘transparency’, the very principles that would be his downfall.

  • Britain’s departure from the European Union has reduced the size of its economy by 6 per cent, London mayor Sadiq Khan said
  • Khan, a member of the opposition Labour Party, which voted against Brexit, based his statement on a report he commissioned from consultants Cambridge Econometrics

Reform UK – formerly Brexit Party and whose leader admires Donald Trump – rails against immigration, net zero energy policies, ‘nanny state’ regulations.

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The inquiry is examining the UK’s pandemic response and has heard testimony about often chaotic scenes in the government of then-PM Boris Johnson, marked by incompetence, back-stabbing and misogyny.

The former British PM said portrayals of partying in Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic were ‘absolutely absurd’ as he faced a second day of questioning at a public inquiry.

The former PM resigned in disgrace after a series of scandals including reports that he had been present at alcohol-fuelled gatherings in Downing Street when most people in the UK were forced to stay at home.

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Patrick Vallance, Boris Johnson’s chief scientific adviser said that the former UK prime minister struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic.

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The protester shouted “true democracy is citizen-led” and “politics needs an update” before scattering glitter over Keir Starmer’s head.

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Chris Pincher will leave the House of Commons more than a year after he was suspended from the ruling Conservative Party. PM Rishi Sunak’s party lost 2 of 3 parliamentary seats contested in July, and are trailing in opinion polls with a national election expected next year.

Conservative MP Dorries announced she would resign more than two months ago in the wake of former PM Johnson’s resignation. She accuses PM Rishi Sunak of helping to ‘whip up a public frenzy’ against her.

Losses in all of the constituencies would be the first time in 55 years that a government has been defeated in three by-elections on the same day.

The reopened investigation concerns a Christmas party held in December 2020 in the headquarters of the governing Conservative Party which was organised by staff working on a mayoral election campaign.

International environment minister Zac Goldsmith resigned, saying Britain had lost its global leadership role on climate issues, rejecting attempts to frame his resignation as a reaction to a request to apologise regarding comments about the ‘Partygate’ investigation.

He is the first politician to give evidence at an inquiry that seeks to lay bare mistakes made and lessons to be learned from the UK’s handling of Covid.

The privileges committee – the main disciplinary body for lawmakers – said he should now be stripped of having automatic access to parliament.

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After three MPs from ruling Conservative Party quit, including Johnson, Labour leader Keir Starmer said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘must finally find a backbone, call an election … this farce must stop’.

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The ex-PM accused opponents of trying to drive him out after he received results of a probe over misleading statements he made on Covid rule breaches.

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Sustaining both nations’ support for Ukraine in its war against Russia will feature heavily when the leaders meet at the White House on Thursday, according to Sunak’s spokesman.

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Immigration has long been a key political issue in the UK, and was one the main battlegrounds of the Brexit referendum in 2016 that saw the country leave the bloc.

Richard Sharp, a Conservative Party donor, helped arrange a loan for then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021, weeks before he was appointed to the BBC post on the government’s recommendation.

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson mounted a robust defence at a hearing that could damage or even end his tumultuous political career.

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