UK PM Boris Johnson Rules Out Snap Election Amid Flurry Of Resignations, Says He's Not Going Anywhere
"And I think that we need to get on with serving our voters, and dealing with the issues that they care about," Johnson said.
Amid the ongoing political crisis in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday rejected calls by the Labour opposition to call a snap general election even as over two dozen ministers have quit his government. "I really don't think that anybody in this country wants politicians to be engaged in electioneering now," news agency AFP quoted him as saying to a committee of MPs.
"And I think that we need to get on with serving our voters, and dealing with the issues that they care about," Johnson said.
Earlier in the day, three more have resigned from Johnson's government. Education ministers Will Quince and Robin Walker and ministerial aide Laura Trott resigned on Wednesday, BBC reported.
Will Quince said he had "no choice but to tender my resignation", while Laura Trott said she was quitting over a loss of 'trust' in the government. Johnson, who recently survived a leadership challenge, vowed to "keep going" as he appeared before several of parliamentarians, not only from the Opposition benches but from within his own Conservative Party.
The statement came after Johnson, 58, appeared at the weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons amidst incresing pressure on him to resign over the handling of allegations of sexual misconduct by a member of his government.
Two of Boris Johnson's top ministers - Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid - quit the government on Tuesday.
"The job of a Prime Minister in difficult circumstances, when you've been handed a colossal mandate, is to keep going, and that's what I am going to do," Johnson said in response to repeated demands for him to quit.
"It's exactly when times are tough, that when the country faces pressures on the economy and pressures on their budgets and when we have the biggest war in Europe for 80 years, that is exactly the moment that you'd expect a government to continue with its work, not to walk away, and to get on with the job," he said.
The exit of Sunak and Javid has left the Conservative Party leader in a precarious position as further resignations are expected.
As per the current rules Johnson is safe from another leadership challenge until next summer. However, the British media reported that the executive of the 1922 Committee can change the rules whenever it wants.
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