Fleur Anderson MP issues statement on resignation of Boris Johnson, describing current state of government as ‘utterly farcical’. 

Fleur Anderson, MP for Putney, has this morning issued a statement on the resignation of Boris Johnson, describing the situation in Westminster as ‘utterly farcical’.

Boris Johnson resigned on Thursday afternoon as Conservative Party Leader but has stated that he intends to continue as ‘care-taker Prime Minister’ until a new leader is in place.

Johnson was forced into resignation after a historically unprecedented number of resignations from his government. The total of resigned ministers currently stands at 59.

Fleur Anderson MP said:  

“I am glad to see that Boris Johnson has finally done the decent thing and resigned. But it should have happened a long time ago. Boris Johnson has never been fit to lead our country. He has brazenly misled the public time and again. On the doorstep, residents in Putney tell me they are furious about Boris Johnson’s behaviour. He has utterly undermined standards in public life. 

It is important to emphasise that Boris Johnson was enabled and supported by the entirety of the Conservative Party. Tory MPs did not resign over Covid deaths and missing five COBRA meetings, benefit cuts, crony contracts, Brexit failure, the appalling treatment of refugees or Partygate. They resigned when they thought Boris Johnson would stop them from being re-elected.  

The situation in Westminster is now utterly farcical. The business of governing the country has descended into chaos. The Conservatives have overseen 12 years of economic stagnation, declining public services and empty promises. Here in Putney, families have rising bills and a housing crisis leading to more people being evicted. I’m angry that the Government are not doing their job and will spend the summer in crisis. We don’t just need to change the Tory at the top – we need a complete change of government.”  

The Conservative Party will now run a leadership race to find his replacement. Questions are now being raised as to whether given the historic number of ministerial resignations, the functioning of government will be severely impacted.

MPs have this morning in Parliament been questioning whether national security is at risk, due to the scale of currently unfilled posts in government.

• Please email fleur.anderson.mp@parliament.uk if you would like to interview Fleur Anderson MP on this topic.