Boris to resign? (Speculation) And who should replace him?

[Islineclear3_1]

Saw this today and although not actually confirmed, I thought it was newsworthy and worthy of debate. And... should Boris resign?

Boris Johnson plans to resign in 6 months because of lingering coronavirus health problems, according to Dominic Cummings' father-in-law

Dominic Cummings' father-in-law, Humphry Wakefield, reportedly told a member of the public that Johnson would stand down early next year.

www.businessinsider.com

The father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's closest aide has reportedly said Johnson plans to stand down in six months because of lingering health problems caused by the novel coronavirus.

Boris Johnson to quit: Will Boris Johnson resign?

BORIS JOHNSON won the UK general election in December 2019 with a landslide victory, but will the Prime Minister resign in the near future?

www.express.co.uk

Downing Street has rubbished claims made in The Times this week, which suggested the PM could say goodbye to Number 10 in the near future.

The Times’ diary column cited Anna Silverman, who visited Chillingham Castle in Northumberland.

 

[Halish Railway]

Hmm, interesting. Resigning because of health problems isn’t exactly unprecedented, for instance, Harold Wilson made way for James Callaghan in 1976 having only been in office for two years (though he had been office from 1964 to 1970). This was reportedly due to concerns that Wilson was showing symptoms of Dementia.

This would be the most likely scenario for Johnson to leave any time soon as the next General election is scheduled for May 2024 and the recent precedent is that the opposition only table a no confidence vote after their leader has been around for two years.

If these rumours do come to light then my bet is on Rishi Sunak replacing him. The only other alternatives I could think of would be Dominic Raab or Michael Gove, though I doubt that he’d try for a third time.

 

[pdeaves]

'Some distant relative of some bloke that knows the PM said to some tabloid journalist that...'. May be 100% true but I would hope for a more substantive statement before making future plans on the basis of the claims!

 

[birchesgreen]

He will resign, though within an hour he'll say he changed his mind.

 

[Cowley]

My brother in law said to me on Sunday that he’d heard rumours that Boris would be moved on/would move on after Brexit was finalised to give them a chance of finding someone better as he’s holed under the water now.
Interesting that this should come up a couple of days later as I didn’t take it too seriously at the time (not that I am now particularly but it’s an interesting thought).

 

[Bletchleyite]

Now would be preferable. His lack of leadership is causing active damage, even if that is for medical reasons.

Of course if he resigns for medical reasons he may escape some judgement about how he's handled it all.

 

[alex397]

An ideal replacement would be a tub of lard, such as what happened on Have I Got News For You when a guest failed to turn up. Although I’m sure Cummings will have someone lined up...

In all seriousness, I can’t think of a good replacement for Boris when looking at this current government.
Although I’m far from being a fan of the Tories, there were certainly some much better candidates than Johnson (this is what we should be calling him, not Boris!). Rory Stewart comes to mind.

 

[Cowley]

An ideal replacement would be a tub of lard, such as what happened on Have I Got News For You when a guest failed to turn up. Although I’m sure Cummings will have someone lined up...

In all seriousness, I can’t think of a good replacement for Boris when looking at this current government.
Although I’m far from being a fan of the Tories, there were certainly some much better candidates than Johnson (this is what we should be calling him, not Boris!). Rory Stewart comes to mind.

Whoever it is will still have to very much believe in Brexit, and shuffling the pack there doesn’t seem to be an awful lot of talent in the party at the moment to say the least.
If he wasn’t so Michael Gove I’d say that Michael Gove would possibly be the most capable to have in charge for them...

 

[Bevan Price]

Maybe they will find a safe seat for Mr Cummings ???

 

[Bletchleyite]

Maybe they will find a safe seat for Mr Cummings ???

Can I suggest the ducking stool?

 

[ainsworth74]

Maybe they will find a safe seat for Mr Cummings ???

I thought monarchs couldn't hold elected office?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I would love to see Sajid in the role but Rishi Sunak would be good too.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would love to see Sajid in the role but Rishi Sunak would be good too.

To me Sunak seems the only sensible candidate.

 

[Yew]

He will resign, though within an hour he'll say he changed his mind.

My bet is that he'll resign 12 hours after Nicola Sturgeon does.

 

[AnthonyRail]

Rishi Sunak replacing him please with more groupon like deals.

 

[Busaholic]

Two letters have been written. In one, Boris Johnson quits with immediate effect for reasons that haven't been thought up yet by Dominic Cummings: in the other, Johnson will continue for as long as there is breath in his body, again for reasons that Cummings can't be bothered to think of yet, but it can all be dashed off in a couple of hours one Saturday afternoon in time for the next day's Sunday Telegraph. Which it is will be entirely within the gift of Cummings and Michael Gove, who'll continue to (mis)run the country afterwards anyway. Any possible election,General or otherwise, can be safely put aside through a convenient spike in positive Covid-19 cases making the polling booth a no-go area.

 

[edwin_m]

I wouldn't put it past Cummings to start the rumour himself. Get rid of Johnson when he ceases to be useful and while the only other credible candidate is someone else that's under your thumb (having got the job on condition he didn't have his own set of advisers).

 

[Typhoon]

In all seriousness, I can’t think of a good replacement for Boris when looking at this current government.
Although I’m far from being a fan of the Tories, there were certainly some much better candidates than Johnson (this is what we should be calling him, not Boris!). Rory Stewart comes to mind.

Rory Stewart resigned from the Conservative Party. https://www.scotsman.com/news/opini...on-should-worry-us-all-leader-comment-1405956.

Perhaps the most pertinent section being

His decision to quit was celebrated by some party members, supporters and worst of all, MPs, on social media – in keeping with how lacking in grace, how partisan and mendacious, public debate has become. Stewart voted three times for Theresa May’s Brexit deal and yet some castigated him as a “die-hard Remainer”.

This is dated 5th October 2019. I suspect the new intake are even more hard line than the party was then.

Existing cabinet. Sunak is good at giving away money inventively, whether he can lead a team is a different matter. Most of the rest are either anonymous or hopeless, Johnson has seen to that!

 

[Trackman]

Anything with Dominic Cummings mentioned I would take with a pinch of salt.

I wouldn't put it past Cummings to start the rumour himself. .. ).

Well he is a spin doctor.

Maybe they will find a safe seat for Mr Cummings ???

He'd lose his deposit even in a safe tory seat.

 

[alex397]

Rory Stewart resigned from the Conservative Party. https://www.scotsman.com/news/opini...on-should-worry-us-all-leader-comment-1405956.

Perhaps the most pertinent section being This is dated 5th October 2019. I suspect the new intake are even more hard line than the party was then.

Existing cabinet. Sunak is good at giving away money inventively, whether he can lead a team is a different matter. Most of the rest are either anonymous or hopeless, Johnson has seen to that!

Yes, I am aware he resigned. I was referring to the 2019 leadership contest, although of course that isn't relevant to this anymore. I just can't think of decent replacement in the current cabinet, except perhaps Sunak.

 

[Typhoon]

Yes, I am aware he resigned. I was referring to the 2019 leadership contest, although of course that isn't relevant to this anymore. I just can't think of decent replacement in the current cabinet, except perhaps Sunak.

It was the follow up quote that I was keen to include - maybe I should have emphasised it more

His decision to quit was celebrated by some party members, supporters and worst of all, MPs, on social media – in keeping with how lacking in grace, how partisan and mendacious, public debate has become.

Labour has always had its problems but Conservatives are rather rarer (Heath v Thatcher, Major v 'The B@st@rds'). The Conservatives seem to be keen to execute a purge the likes of which Derek Hatton and Momentum could only dream of.

 

[etr221]

What I've seen is that de Pfeffel and his chief adviser (who isn't a Conservative Party member) will go together - whichever goes first will very swiftly be followed by the other.

If things go as badly as some (many) fear over the new year - when out our new relationship with the EU comes into force - I think the men in grey suits will give the PM his marching orders - and may be leaving it till then so all the blame goes on the one.

The name I've seen suggested as a replacement is Jeremy Hunt: the Cabinet were chosen for loyalty, not competence - and have been demonstrating this.

But if things go really, really badly, anybody's guess: options that haven't been seen since the 17th century may appear...

 

[Tetchytyke]

What I've seen is that de Pfeffel and his chief adviser (who isn't a Conservative Party member) will go together - whichever goes first will very swiftly be followed by the other.

The chief adviser in question originally started out as Michael Gove's SpAd at education, and was so vile Cameron ordered him to be sacked. Cameron described him as a "professional psychopath". But Cummings has remained allied to Gove.

As for replacements for Boris, if the best alternative is Rishi Sunak then, quite frankly, I'm glad I don't live in the UK!

We all know it'd be Michael Gove though, the man to leave you dreaming about the beautiful days when Theresa May was the worst PM in living memory. It'll be such a Michael Gove thing to do.

 

[edwin_m]

What I've seen is that de Pfeffel and his chief adviser (who isn't a Conservative Party member) will go together - whichever goes first will very swiftly be followed by the other.

My suspicion is that the merging of the PM's and Chancellor's teams of advisers means that if Sunak takes over Cummings is likely to stay.

 

[Bletchleyite]

What I've seen is that de Pfeffel and his chief adviser (who isn't a Conservative Party member) will go together - whichever goes first will very swiftly be followed by the other.

If things go as badly as some (many) fear over the new year - when out our new relationship with the EU comes into force - I think the men in grey suits will give the PM his marching orders - and may be leaving it till then so all the blame goes on the one.

If they're concerned about leaving the EU, why not unseat him now and kick a delay in?

Oh, I forgot, backstabbing is more important than the country.

 

[xotGD]

Of course Rishi Sunak is popular right now - he's paying people to sit on the sofa and giving them half price meals out. All payed for from the magic money tree also known as Quantitative Easing.

Wait until Autumn, when the taps are turned off and reality starts to bite. The Chancellor who has presided over the deepest recession in our history may lose some of his popularity.

If things go really badly over the next 12 months then the Conservatives may turn to the safe pair of hands they rejected last year - Jeremy Hunt.

 

[hexagon789]

Personally, I suspect Sunak will lead the Tories into the next GE.

 

[edwin_m]

Of course Rishi Sunak is popular right now - he's paying people to sit on the sofa and giving them half price meals out. All payed for from the magic money tree also known as Quantitative Easing.

Wait until Autumn, when the taps are turned off and reality starts to bite. The Chancellor who has presided over the deepest recession in our history may lose some of his popularity.

If things go really badly over the next 12 months then the Conservatives may turn to the safe pair of hands they rejected last year - Jeremy Hunt.

To his credit Sunak has realized that orthodox Tory policy isn't applicable in this situation and acted accordingly.

It remains to be seen whether he can resist pressure from the "run the country like a household" faction (which he is by instinct probably a part of) and not choke off whatever recovery we get by imposing excessive tax rises or spending cuts, as Osborne did ten years ago. This is most likely a once-in-a-lifetime sort of crisis for which long-term borrowing is the best remedy. Even if we get another pandemic within a short time, it ought to be economically less bad if lessons are learned from this one.

 

[Meerkat]

If things go really badly over the next 12 months then the Conservatives may turn to the safe pair of hands they rejected last year - Jeremy Hunt.

Jeremy Hunt would be a risk as he would get totally battered by the press over the NHS. The NHS is always massive in elections and Labour would surely go with “you know you can’t trust this man with the NHS!” (not something i agree with but it’s what the general uninformed opinion is)

 

[Tetchytyke]

It remains to be seen whether he can resist pressure from the "run the country like a household" faction (which he is by instinct probably a part of) and not choke off whatever recovery we get by imposing excessive tax rises or spending cuts, as Osborne did ten years ago.

Sunak- a former Goldman Sachs executive- is an ardent free marketeer. He's one of the main backers for the freeport idea, essentially wanting to turn parts of the UK into Delaware.

I think it is telling that the stimulus he has handed out has mostly been to companies, not individuals, and the National Audit Office is already murmuring that it considers most of the spending to have been poor value for money.

I think Sunak is probably the most competent and the most electable of the current cabinet, but when you share a Cabinet with 5w intellects like Priti Patel tand Matt Hancock that isn't a high bar to clear.

The NHS is always massive in elections and Labour would surely go with “you know you can’t trust this man with the NHS!” (not something i agree with but it’s what the general uninformed opinion is)

Lansley and Hunt's shambolic "reforms", not least the formation of CCGs and the destruction of public health teams, are the main reason why the NHS was left unable to raise a coherent response to Covid. Regardless of anything else, that should be a damning enough indictment of Hunt's capability.

I also think the Tories will do Labour's work for them- already Hancock is making it very clear that the failures in public health aren't his fault, they're the fault of "reforms" brought in by his predecessors. Hunt dared to stand against Johnson and has been carping ever since, so you know Johnson would have no qualms about making sure the electorate knew Hunt was to blame for everything.