Politics in chaos as Johnson quits race for leadership
The British public, already rocked by the narrow referendum vote to leave the European Union, was further shocked as former London mayor Boris Johnson, one of the leaders of the narrowly successful "Leave" campaign, defied predictions and said he would not stand as a candidate to replace Prime Minister David Cameron, who is resigning.
Johnson had been widely tipped to announce his candidacy to lead the ruling Conservative Party, which if he had won would have automatically made him prime minister.
But hours before the deadline for formally announcing bids expired Michael Gove, the current Secretary of State for Justice, declared that he would be standing as a candidate, and said he didn't think Johnson was up to the job. He had been expected to back a bid by Johnson, for whom he acted as campaign manager during the referendum.
In an announcement that stunned both his supporters and political analysts, Johnson said he was standing down, because he "was not the man for the job".
Reaction was immediate.
"An act of midnight treachery", said the pro-Brexit Daily Telegraph, while the Sun tabloid carried the single word "Brexecuted". The "I" newspaper headed its story "Et Tu, Gove", a reference to Roman emperor Julius Caesar's supposed last words, immortalized by William Shakespeare, when close friend Marcus Brutus helped stab him to death.
Tory peer Lord Heseltine, who as Michael Heseltine served as defense secretary under Margaret Thatcher and went on to become deputy prime minister under John Major, lashed out at Johnson with an excoriating attack on Twitter, unheard of for a leading Conservative on a fellow party member.
"There will be a profound sense of dismay and frankly, contempt. He's ripped the party apart. He's created the greatest constitutional crisis of modern times. I have never seen so contemptible and irresponsible a situation. He must live with the shame of what he has done," Heseltine said.
Current Home Secretary Theresa May is seen as leading candidate for the top job.
Cameron, who announced his resignation last week in the wake of the referendum leave vote, said he was leaving it to his successor to formally initiate Article 50, which under the Lisbon Treaty establishing the latest EU set up triggers the procedure for the UK's departure.
chris@mail.chinadailyuk.com
(China Daily 07/02/2016 page8)
