Besieged Johnson rebuilds team rocked by resignations

LONDON－British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday hired a new chief of staff as he rebuilds his top team following a series of scandals that some say have made his position untenable.

Cabinet minister Steve Barclay, formerly Brexit minister under Theresa May's government, will head Johnson's staff, Downing Street said.

Johnson, who in 2019 won the biggest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher in 1987, has repeatedly refused to resign over reports that he and some of his staff attended Downing Street parties during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Those revelations raised questions about Johnson's style of leadership and have led to the greatest threat to him since he took office.

Johnson was rocked on Thursday by the resignation of his policy chief, Munira Mirza, a trusted adviser who worked with him for more than a decade. Mirza stood by the prime minister amid "Partygate" revelations that Johnson and his staff broke the rules they had imposed on the country. But she said Johnson's "scurrilous accusation" that an opposition leader had failed to stop a notorious pedophile was the final straw.

After Mirza quit, Johnson's office announced the departure of three more top staffers: chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, communications director Jack Doyle and principal private secretary Martin Reynolds.

Last Monday, the UK government made public a report, drafted by senior civil servant Sue Gray, on parties held at Downing Street that have enraged the public, who were asked to follow coronavirus restrictions for many months over the past two years to curb the spread of COVID-19.

'Failures of leadership'

Gray found that "failures of leadership and judgment" allowed events to occur that "should not have been allowed to take place" and described a Downing Street operation marked by excessive drinking and dysfunctional dynamics. Johnson apologized and pledged to fix the problems in his office, though he did not admit personal wrongdoing.

Aaron Bell, a Conservative lawmaker, said on Friday he had submitted a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson, saying the prime minister's handling of Downing Street lockdown parties had made his position untenable.

Johnson could face a vote of no confidence in his leadership if 54 of his 360 Conservative lawmakers submit a letter to the chairman of the party's 1922 Committee.

Bell said he was profoundly disappointed in the situation after he backed Johnson to become leader.

Agencies - Xinhua