Sajid Javid just resigned

[achillestoes]

That’s all.

And the PM is sacked….how?

Through the 1922 committee of backbenchers. They can trigger a leadership contest following a vote if no confidence.

Currently BJ is safe as the 1922 rules say that having held a NC vote you can't hold another for a year....but the committee could change the rules if they wanted and next week a new committee will be voted in.

Behind the scenes there will be a hell of a lot of jostling between pro/anti BJ MP's to gain those seats to enable/prevent a change in the rules.

Also, Sunak’s letter says:

The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously.

Has he even fucking met Johnson? Because it’s obvious at first glance that he is not, and has never been, any of those things. I mean, I don’t know my neighbours that well, but I thought these two worked together, too?!

Wonder what gravy train he’s jumped onto, and what’s about to come out.

There’s a lot of mumbling re high spend on Times radio

Some people in gov want him out due to that

Zahawi is Chancellor.

Michelle Donelan moves to Education - winning.

At least Sunak’s wife can carry on not paying tax /being a non dom (or whatever it was) without kickback over him being chancellor now. 👀🙄

Yes, I am thinking more personally really. Things like sexual continence, for example. He does better in politics, but the two spheres cross enough that it makes him a liability in politics. Most of his scandals have their origins in that kind of weakness getting in the way of better politics.

There have been political figures who were moral failures in their personal life but never let it touch their work, BJ is not one of them.

What do we know about Barclay?

They already tried that, though. Then they leaked a barrage of hypocrisy/sleaze/misconduct stories. Now his mates are hinting that he’s deceiving the public. He’s unsackable, isn’t he? Mind you, it’s probably not the worst thing for the country. With a bit of luck, he’ll take the Tories down with him for good long time - that’s why they want him out - but they mistook him for someone who cared for, well, anything but himself. He’ll be around for a while longer.

I’m pleased but wonder if he’s another high spender

She’s already in education. She’s been promoted from a junior ministerial role (higher education minister) to Secretary of State in the same department.

If he won't I think someone may apply some kind of personal pressure to force him to do so. Blackmail him, essentially.

As long as he has some in party support he could probably carry on, but if they are pretty united about him being a liability, I think they can probably manipulate him.

@LoobiJee

She is. She’s been promoted and this is good news for our kids.

www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/24916/steve_barclay/north_east_cambridgeshire

Not sure what we can glean from Barclay's record.

He declared two tix for Wimbledon's Women's Final last year. So a supporter of women's sport, maybe? <clings to hope>

'Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: Two tickets, including hospitality, for Wimbledon Women's Singles Final 2021, total value £1,545.60'

Ultimately, there are three (legal) mechanisms for getting rid of a PM: vote of no confidence and they lose (BJ didn’t); election (party in govt get to call it); and shame (if PM has no shame, it has to be one of the other options).

@FireFlyBoogaloo If people were to sign up as Tories would they be able to vote in a leadership race if BJ quits?

Zahawi is Chancellor

Oh for god's sake

From the collapse of Gulf Keystone to the expenses scandal he's hardly someone I'd want in charge of national finances, but I guess it's a case of choosing from the balance left over to do the work

I think you need to be a member for 3 months. So depends how long he holds on ...

I really don’t want Nadine Dorries moving position just now. She’s making huge steps in trying to keep womens sport for females, and there is no guarantee that any replacement would understand the issues so well.

And definitely no to the SNP suggestion!! ( from Scotland)

There needs to be an inquiry into dodgy dealings during Covid. Bounce back loans and dodgy contracts to his mates. Never going to happen but he should be held accountable.

To be honest I would rather have Theresa May back than that Muppet. If you think about it though Australia and New Zealand had female primie minister's during the pandemic and they were on it like a car bonnet literally. They went into lockdown when the number of deaths were really low.

Urgent help required.
Does anyone know where I can get hold of a load of cardboard boxes on really short notice? A bloke I know has to move house today, and doesn’t have much time to prepare.
If anyone can help, could you please drop any boxes round to Boris’ house? It’s 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA.

@Somethingneedstochange gawd that’s a really lame joke about boxes. Bit daft actually

I liked it. 😂

Like him being guilty of breaking the law at work during a time of great national distress? Tried that one

How about him having sex at work with someone he wasn’t married to? Nope, that’s out there too.

Lying to the queen - she’s popular just now - surely no one wants to see the old dear disrespected? Oh, no, the public know about that already.

Ooooh, I know abuse of his position - people hate that. If they found out he tried to get his mistress a £100k a year job she was in no way qualified to do…..surely he’d go to keep that quie……..oh, no, we’ve put that behind us.

You can’t blackmail someone who doesn’t care what people think. He doesn’t think people are important, so their opinions have no merit. There are no consequences for his actions. He has money, he has power. He has connections. He has never learnt that there are consequences for crappy actions. If he did a poor job, or broke the law, or shafted his wife, or got an unspecified number of women who weren’t his wife pregnant, he just….walked away. Got another job through the old boys network, paid the fines (with no noticeable effect on his available money), ignored the child. People don’t matter to him. Why would he GAF what we know? We can’t do anything about it. So why would he resign from a position he has coveted his whole life, and expected - feels he has not just deserves, but is a right, just because people he couldn’t give a shit about know he did stuff that he doesn’t think is wrong for him to do anyway? He won’t. He’s basically untouchable because he doesn’t care.