Question mark over whether Boris will stay until Autumn
Following the news that Boris Johnson will today resign as Prime Minister, the conversation has moved to whether he should stay on until Autumn or allow a caretaker PM to step in.
Nick Gibb, Conservative MP for Bognor Regis & Littlehampton, said this:
As well as resigning as Party leader the PM must resign his office. After losing so many ministers, he has lost the trust and authority required to continue. We need an acting PM who is not a candidate for leader to stabilise the government while a new leader is elected.
— Nick Gibb (@NickGibbUK) July 7, 2022
Dominic Cummings, former top aide to Johnson took to Twitter, writing:
Evict TODAY or he'll cause CARNAGE, even now he's playing for time & will try to stay
No 'dignity', no 'interim while leadership contest'.
Raab shd be interim PM by evening
— Dominic Cummings (@Dominic2306) July 7, 2022
Mark Elliot, Professor of Public Law & Chair of the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, has suggested that a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons would be one way of ensuring that Johnson does not cling onto power for much longer. This would enable the Queen to then either appoint a new Prime Minister or, if no such figure could be found, dissolve parliament.
If the leadership election takes several months, such that Johnson would remain PM until October, and if that is considered unacceptable, it would be open for a vote of no confidence to be held in the House of Commons. /1
— Mark Elliott (@ProfMarkElliott) July 7, 2022
In his role as Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab, who is also Justice Secretary, would step in for the soon-to-be ex-PM — a move apparently supported by the ‘1922 Committee’.
Raab — who has stepped in for Johnson in the past when the soon-to-be former Conservative leader was hospitalised with Covid in April 2020 — studied law at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, before completing a masters at Jesus College, Cambridge. He trained as a lawyer at magic circle outfit Linklaters, qualifying in 2000, and specialised in project finance, international litigation and competition law.
Will Holmes is reporter at Legal Cheek and a future trainee solicitor at a magic circle law firm.