Premiership of Boris Johnson

On 29 August 2019, Johnson suffered the first ministerial resignation of his premiership, when Lord Young of Cookham resigned as a government whip in the House of Lords.[15]

On 3 September 2019, Phillip Lee crossed the floor and defected to the Liberal Democrats following disagreement with Johnson's Brexit policy. This left the government with no working majority in the House of Commons.[16] Later that day, 21 Conservative MPs including former Chancellors Kenneth Clarke, Philip Hammond and Nicholas Soames, the grandson of former Conservative Party Leader Winston Churchill, had the party whip withdrawn for defying party orders and supporting an opposition motion.[17] Johnson saw his working majority reduced from 1 to minus 43.

On 5 September 2019, Johnson's brother Jo Johnson resigned from the government and announced that he would step down as an MP, describing his position as "torn between family and national interest."[18]

On 7 September 2019, Amber Rudd resigned as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and from the Conservative Party, describing the withdrawal of the party whip from MPs on 3 September as an "assault on decency and democracy".[19][20]

On 28 August 2019, Johnson advised the Queen to prorogue parliament between 12 September 2019 and 14 October 2019, which was given ceremonial approval by the Queen at a Privy Council meeting.[21] The prorogation spurred requests for a judicial review of the advice given by Johnson as the order itself, under royal prerogative powers, cannot be challenged in court.[22] As of 29 August, three court proceedings had been lodged, and one European legal proceeding had begun:

• In the Court of Session, Edinburgh, for breach of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 and the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, by 75 MPs led by Joanna Cherry;[23]
• In the High Court of Justice, Westminster, for an urgent judicial review on the legality of the use of the royal prerogative, by Gina Miller;[24]
• In the High Court, Northern Ireland, for breach of the Good Friday Agreement, by Raymond McCord;[25]
• In the European Parliament, for breach of Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, under the process outlined under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union.[26]

On 24 September 2019 the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom found that Johnson's attempt to prorogue Parliament for five weeks "had the effect of frustrating or preventing the constitutional role of Parliament in holding the government to account", that the matter was justiciable, and therefore that the attempted prorogation was unlawful.[27][28] It accordingly declared that the prorogation was void ab initio.[27] Parliament returned the following day and the record was made to show that Parliament was not in fact prorogued but rather "adjourned".[29] On 2 October 2019, Johnson announced his plans to prorogue Parliament on 8 October and hold a new State Opening of Parliament on 14 October.[30]

On 2 October 2019, the government delivered its Brexit proposals to the EU in a seven-page document, including plans to replace the Irish backstop. The proposals would see Northern Ireland stay in the European single market for goods, but leave the customs union, resulting in new customs checks.[31]

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, said he did not think Johnson's Brexit plan would get EU support, claiming it was worse than the deal negotiated by former Prime Minister Theresa May. He also said the proposal was "very unspecific on how the Good Friday Agreement can be upheld."[32]

On 4 October, government papers submitted to the Scottish court indicated that Johnson would ask the EU for an extension to the Article 50 process if a deal was not reached by 19 October. However, later the same day Johnson reiterated his earlier statement that the UK would be leaving the EU on 31 October, regardless of whether or not a deal had been reached.[33]

Following negotiations between the UK and EU, a revised withdrawal agreement was reached on 17 October.[34] A special Saturday sitting of Parliament was held two days later to debate the new agreement.[35][36][37] MPs passed an amendment, introduced by Sir Oliver Letwin by 322 votes to 306, withholding Parliament's approval until legislation implementing the deal was passed, and intending to force the government to request a delay from the EU for the exit until 31 January 2020.[38] Later that evening, 10 Downing Street confirmed that Johnson would send a letter to the EU requesting an extension, but would not sign it.[39] EU Council President Donald Tusk subsequently confirmed receipt of the letter, which Johnson had described as "Parliament's letter, not my letter". In addition, Johnson sent a second letter expressing the view that any further delay to Brexit would be a mistake.[39]

On 21 October, the government published the withdrawal agreement bill and proposed three days of debate for opposition MPs to scrutinise it.[40] The Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow refused a government request to hold a vote on the Brexit deal, citing their previous decision to withdraw it.[41]

The government brought the recently revised EU Withdrawal Bill to the House of Commons for debate on the evening of 22 October 2019.[42] MPs voted on the Bill itself, which was passed by 329 votes to 299, and the timetable for debating the Bill, which was defeated by 322 votes to 308. Prior to the votes, Johnson had stated that if his timetable failed to generate the support needed to pass in parliament he would abandon attempts to get the deal approved and would seek a general election. Following the vote, however, Johnson announced that the legislation would be paused while he consulted with other EU leaders.[42][43]

On 30 October, Johnson took part in a one-hour and eleven minute long session of Prime Minister's Questions – the longest on record. He led tributes to parliamentarian John Bercow who stood down the following day after ten years as Speaker of the House of Commons.[44]

On 3 September 2019, Johnson threatened to call a general election after opposition and rebel Conservative MPs successfully voted against the government to take control of the order of business with a view to preventing a no-deal exit.[45]

Despite government opposition, the bill to block a no-deal exit passed the Commons on 4 September 2019, causing Johnson to call for a general election on 15 October.[46] However, this motion was unsuccessful as it failed to command the support of two-thirds of the House as required by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA).[47] A second attempt at a motion for an early general election failed on 9 September.[48]

After the programme motion for the withdrawal agreement bill failed to pass on 22 October, Johnson once again submitted a motion for an early general election under the FTPA. After the motion failed, the government put forward a short bill to hold another election – a method which needed only a simple majority and not a two thirds majority as required by the FTPA.[49] Opposition MPs submitted an amendment to change the date of the election to 9 December rather than 12 December, but the amendment failed. On 29 October, MPs approved the election for 12 December in a second vote.[50] The date of the election became law when royal assent was given on 31 October.[51]

Campaigning for the election began officially on 6 November.[52] Johnson participated in a television debate with Jeremy Corbyn hosted by ITV on 19 November, and one hosted by the BBC on 6 December.[53][54] He worked with Brett O'Donnell, a US Republican strategist, in preparation for the debates,[55] whilst his campaign was managed by Isaac Levido, an Australian strategist.

The Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage had suggested the Brexit and Conservative parties could form an electoral pact to maximise the seats taken by Brexit-supporting MPs, but this was rejected by Johnson.[56]

During the floods which hit parts of England in November, Johnson was criticised for what some saw as his late response to the flooding[57][58] after he said they were not a national emergency.[59]

The Conservatives banned Daily Mirror reporters from Johnson's campaign bus.[60][61]

On 27 November, the Labour Party announced it had obtained leaked government documents; they claimed these showed that, despite claims otherwise, the Conservatives were in trade negotiations with the US over the NHS. The Conservatives said Labour were peddling "conspiracy theories".[62]

Whilst campaigning in his constituency on 29 November, Johnson returned to Downing Street after news of a stabbing on London Bridge. Five people were stabbed and two died from their injuries; Johnson declared the incident an act of terrorism.

A map presenting the results of the election

Under Johnson's leadership, the Conservative Party polled their largest share of votes since 1979 and won their largest number of seats since 1987. Their total of 13.9 million votes was the largest number of votes won by any party since 1992. Their victory in the final contest of the election – the seat of St Ives, in Cornwall – took their total number of MPs to 365, giving them a majority of 80.

After the results of the election were announced on the night of 12 December, Johnson asked the Queen permission to form a new government, and hence began organising his second ministry.[63] This remained the same as his first, aside from a new Secretary of State for Wales, to replace Alun Cairns, who resigned after claims that he had known about a former aide's role in the 'sabotage' of a rape trial. Nicky Morgan, who had not stood in the election, and Zac Goldsmith, who lost his seat, were made life peers to allow them to remain in the government.

Johnson's first overseas trip as Prime Minister was when he travelled to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 21 August 2019. He visited France to hold meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron the next day.

On 5 September 2019, Johnson launched a national campaign to recruit 20,000 new police officers.[77]

He also pledged to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.[78]

Johnson delivered a speech at the Science and Industry Museum on 27 July 2019

On 27 July 2019, Johnson gave a speech at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester where he promised to build a high-speed rail route connecting the city to Leeds. He said the project would bring "colossal" benefits and "turbo-charge the economy".[79]

Johnson came under pressure to "pay back the trust of Northern voters" after his victory in the 2019 general election. This was a factor in him giving the go-ahead to the High Speed 2 (HS2) project on 11 February 2020.[80] The rail line, capable of speeds above 186 mph, is scheduled to open in phases between 2028 and 2040. It has been criticised for its projected costs and impact on the environment.

Downing Street said that work was underway "by a range of government officials" to look into the prospects of building a bridge from Scotland to Northern Ireland. Johnson has also promoted the idea of an airport in the Thames Estuary, nicknamed "Boris Island".

On 27 February, a court ruling deemed a third runway at Heathrow Airport "unlawful". Johnson said he was not planning to appeal against the ruling. However, the court said that a third runway could be built in the future if it worked in line with the UK's commitments in the Paris Agreement.[81]

On 28 January 2020, the UK government decided to let Huawei have a limited role in building its new 5G network and supplying new high-speed network equipment to wireless carriers, whilst ignoring the US government's warnings that it would sever intelligence sharing if they did not exclude the company. The UK government stated that they deemed Huawei as a high-risk vendor but decided against banning the company from its 5G network, and said instead that they had decided to "use Huawei in a limited way so we can collectively manage the risk".[82][83] Several Conservative Party members, on their part, warned against using Huawei.

Johnson stated that he was "appalled and sickened" by the killing of George Floyd, which lead to protests being held across the UK.[84] He urged people to protest peacefully and said that the protesters who "attack[ed] public property or the police" would "face the full force of the law".[85]