At the beginning of the week, the British Prime Minister breathed a sigh of relief.

The House of Commons debate on the Partygate report did not go well, but the feared mutiny did not materialize.

Only a handful of MPs announced that they would table a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson.

But since Thursday evening things seem to have gotten out of hand.

Within a few hours, five employees in Downing Street resigned.

In addition, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak cautiously distanced himself from the head of government for the first time.

Are there cracks in the cabinet now?

Jochen Buchsteiner

Political correspondent in London.

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Johnson's hardest hit was the termination of Munira Mirza.

She had been with him since his days as London mayor and was a trusted advisor as head of the policy department.

When Johnson was once asked about the most influential women in his life, he named Munira Mirza - along with his grandmother and singer Kate Bush - and praised her as a reliable "nonsense detector".

Recently he hadn't listened to her anymore.

She had apparently warned him not to attack Labor leader Keir Starmer below the belt - and when he did, at least apologized.

Johnson was "a better person than many will ever realize," she wrote in her resignation letter.

It is all the sadder that "you have sunk so low and made such an infamous accusation."

Johnson had accused Starmer in the House of Commons of pursuing journalists rather than serial sex offender Jimmy Savile during his time as chief of the prosecutor's office.

After an outcry of outrage, Johnson initially maintained his allegation – supported by colleagues in the cabinet – but finally qualified that he naturally did not blame Starmer personally.

However, no apology was forthcoming.

In 2013, Starmer apologized on behalf of prosecutors for not prosecuting Savile, a well-known television entertainer, despite clear circumstantial evidence.

At the same time, an internal investigation acquitted him of personal misconduct.

As far as is known, Mirza is the only one who justified her resignation with Johnson's invective.

Her colleagues, including communications director Jack Doyle and Johnson's personal secretary, Martin Reynolds, may have had other motives.

Both are the subject of the "Partygate" investigation.

Dan Rosenfeld, who was installed as chief of staff at Downing Street after Dominic Cummings left, has long been criticized.

There were also attempts in the government to present the exodus as planned.

In fact, Johnson announced a reorganization of his office on Monday.

But the loss of the well-loved Mirza makes that only partially credible.

Even the Chancellor of the Exchequer publicly regretted her resignation.

At the same time, he distanced himself from Johnson's attack on Starmer: "If I'm honest - I wouldn't have said that and I'm glad that the Prime Minister has clarified what he meant." So far Johnson could have trusted it, at least defended by his ministers to become.

Speculation grew on Friday that the first state secretaries could soon take flight.

Cummings spoke of a "collapse of the bunker".