(International Observation) "Prime Minister in Troubled Times" "tripped" by scandal What happened to British politics?
China News Agency, Beijing, July 8th, Question: "Prime Minister of Troubled Times" "tripped" by scandal What happened to British politics?
Author Su Jingxin
On the 7th local time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation as the leader and prime minister of the British Conservative Party, but will remain in office until a new leader is elected.
Why did Johnson, who was once hailed as a "political giant" by the British media and who led the United Kingdom to fulfill its Brexit promise, resigned?
Kong Yuan, an associate researcher at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an expert on British issues, analyzed in an exclusive interview with China News Agency on the 7th that political scandals were an important reason for the "prime ministers in troubled times" to lose public trust and were opposed by the British political arena. The uncertainty of the economic situation since Europe is the underlying reason for Johnson's departure.
Political scandals lead to resentment of economic situation, highlighting intra-party contradictions
Kong Yuan believes that the scandal of the deputy whip of the British Conservative Party, Ping Che, was the fuse that led to Johnson's resignation.
According to the Guardian, Pincher resigned following allegations of misconduct in June this year, and a deputy spokesman for 10 Downing Street insisted that Johnson was unaware of the allegations against Pincher when he promoted Pincher in February.
But that claim was overturned three days later, with Johnson admitting he knew about it at the time.
"Johnson knew about Pincher's misconduct, but he still appointed him as the deputy whip of the Conservative Party. After the Pincher incident was exposed, he lied to the public, which worsened everyone's impression of him." Kong Yuan pointed out that this is not Johnson This is the first time to solve the problem. "In the previous 'Party Door' incident, he blatantly violated the British government's party rules during the epidemic. He also lied first, and then he couldn't hide it and apologized to the public."
Kong Yuan believes that Johnson's series of behaviors made the British people tired of his immoral behavior and made the public lose their trust in him.
In addition to losing public trust, Johnson has also faced opposition from British politics this time.
According to British media statistics, since the resignation of the health and finance ministers on the 5th of this month, more than 50 government officials have resigned, and most of them have called on Johnson to take the blame and resign.
Kong Yuan analyzed this, saying that Johnson's image in British politics is "daring to take risks". When he won the general election in 2019, he was called "prime minister in troubled times". Britain blazes a new path after Brexit.
"Johnson is bold in many things and dares to break the mold, but he will be cronyism and corruption. The most extreme example is the series of behaviors in these two scandals, which make the cabinet feel ashamed and so One person continues to work together, and his style issues are a big reason for the resentment in British politics."
"In addition, the uncertainty of the economic situation since Brexit is the deep reason for Johnson's departure." Kong Yuan added that Johnson's departure also showed the profound contradictions of the Conservative Party in the post-Brexit era. Through a tough Brexit stance, he has solved the European problems that have plagued the Conservative Party for a long time. On the other hand, in planning the global development path of the UK in the post-Brexit era, he has fallen into policy differences within the Conservative Party. , trade rules and the uncertainty of the value of the pound and other concerns, the prospects for the development of the British economy are not optimistic, and the business credibility of the Conservative Party is going bankrupt.
Regretful Prime Ministership
In the face of heavy pressure from cabinet officials to resign one after another, Johnson has insisted that he will never step down.
In this regard, Kong Yuan analyzed that the statement that he wants to complete his term as prime minister may be due to Johnson's character on the one hand, and the pursuit of the ideal of governance on the other hand.
"For reasons of Johnson's own character, he sometimes acts as extreme as shaming, but on the other hand he thinks he won the election by a landslide in 2019 as prime minister, so even if the party is against him The cabinet is against him, and he still thinks he has a mandate from the British people."
However, according to the poll results released by the British Public Opinion Research Company on the 5th, Johnson's approval rate has reached an all-time low, and nearly 70% of Britons believe that he should resign.
Looking back on Johnson's prime ministerial career, Kong Yuan pointed out that in 2019, Johnson won the British Conservative Party election and became the prime minister with his "excellent performance" and the grand vision of Brexit outlined to the British people.
"During his time in office, he also did a lot of excellent work, such as developing the first Oxford vaccine; emphasizing on building the UK into a so-called technological innovation powerhouse, and at the same time proposing ambitious plans to address the unequal development of the UK region. Problems; diplomatically, he detailed the implementation path for the UK around the world, and through a very strong policy stance, won the leadership of the UK in the Western world in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict."
Kong Yuan said that Johnson had a clear vision and detailed plans for his prime ministerial career, but in the end he was unable to fully implement these plans because of his own series of political scandals. For Johnson, this was a very big deal. regret.
The next prime minister is unpredictable
Regarding the future direction of British politics, Kong Yuan analyzed that it first depends on who can succeed the British Prime Minister, and different successors may have different tendencies.
"According to the polls, there are several popular candidates, such as former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak, former Defense Minister Mordaunt, current Defense Minister Wallace, etc., but it is difficult to judge who can be in the final competition. win.”
However, Kong Yuan also pointed out that no matter who is elected as the next prime minister, Britain's position in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will not change significantly.
Because on the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United Kingdom has a consensus not only within the Conservative Party, but also among the two major parties, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.
In addition, regarding the Sino-British relationship after Johnson left office, Kong Yuan pointed out that Johnson has been balancing the economic and security relations between China and the United Kingdom. "His cabinet has shown a divided situation, some people support economic exchanges with China, and some people advocate for China. Tough, Johnson has been balancing the views of the two factions, and he will also send some friendly signals to China. So after he leaves office, China-UK relations will face certain uncertainty.”
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