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Rory Stewart and David Gauke Resign From Cabinet Following Johnson Victory

Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart, the Secretary of State for International Development, and David Gauke, the Secretary of State for Justice, have resigned from the Cabinet following the victory of Boris Johnson in the Conservative leadership contest.

Stewart posted on Twitter:

“Congratulations @BorisJohnson on becoming Leader. Honour to serve in turn as Minister of Environment @DefraGovUK, Mid East +Asia @DFID_UK, Africa @FCO, Prisons @MoJGovUK + then Development Secretary in Cabinet +NSC. Backbench tomorrow serving Cumbria. Thank you all. More walking!”

Gauke also posted on Twitter, saying:

“Congratulations @BorisJohnson on being elected as Leader of @Conservatives and PM @10DowningStreet. An honour to serve in Cabinet @MoJGovUK, @DWP and @hmtreasury under @theresa_may. Looking forward to returning to backbenches tomorrow, serving people of South West Hertfordshire.”

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Boris Johnson is the New Conservative Party Leader and Prime Minister

Boris Johnson has been confirmed as the new leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister. He will formally replace Theresa May tomorrow, on Wednesday 24 July 2019, when he visits Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen.

Boris Johnson beat Jeremy Hunt following a postal vote of the party’s members by 92,153 votes to 46,656.

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Chancellor Confirms He Will Resign if Boris Johnson Becomes Prime Minister

Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has said that he will resign if Boris Johnson becomes the next Prime Minister. Hammond said that he couldn’t be part of a Cabinet which would accept a no-deal Brexit, and he stated that he would resign before Theresa May heads to Buckingham Palace to resign as Prime Minister.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Hammond said:

“Assuming that Boris Johnson becomes the next Prime Minister. I understand that his conditions for serving in his government would include accepting a no deal exit on the 31st of October. That is not something I could ever sign up to. It’s very important that a Prime Minister is able to have a Chancellor who is closely aligned with him in terms of policy and I therefore intend to resign to Theresa May before she goes to the palace to tender her own resignation on Wednesday.”

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Sir John Major Backs Jeremy Hunt as Tory Leader

Sir John Major, the former Conservative Prime Minister from 1990 until 1997, has confirmed in an interview with Stephen Sackur on HARDTalk that he is backing Jeremy Hunt in the party’s current leadership contest.

Major said, when asked by Sackur who he was voting for:

“A ballot is private, but it’s fairly evident from my views that I cannot vote for someone who was part of the Brexit campaign which misled the country. So I shall offer my vote to Jeremy Hunt, and I don’t think anyone will be in any doubt about that.”

When asked about whether the majority of Tories want Brexit, Major said:

“I find it very difficult for any Prime Minister wishing to lead the whole of our country can entirely ignore the views of 48% of people who passionately do not want to see Brexit at all because they believe it is bad for their country. They cannot be ignored, it’s not only wrong constitutionally, I think politically it’s crazy. Those 48% of people are going to remember that they were completely ignored and they will remember that at the next election and for a very long time to come.”

When asked if MPs should back Brexit, Major added:

“Parliamentarians are in an extraordinarily difficult position that we have not seen before. I would guess that 70% to 80% of Parliament believe that Brexit is a disaster, that we should not be leaving Europe and that it’s damaging to our country and damaging to our future. But they feel hamstrung in carrying their conscience and their belief through to action because of the result of the referendum.”

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Boris Johnson Calls for Reforms to be Made to the NHS

Boris Johnson, one of the two remaining candidates in the Conservative Party leadership contest, has said that he believes that the NHS needs both more money and also reform.

Speaking at a private Conservative Party event he said:

“The NHS needs more money but where you are absolutely right is that it needs reform.”

He added that the service was “not getting the kind of support and indeed the kind of changes and management that it needs”.

Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health, said:

“These comments are alarming but unsurprising given the hard right agenda Johnson has been putting forward. His tax plans will benefit the richest, he’s the biggest defender of the bankers who crashed the economy, and he’s been buddying up with Trump to sell off our NHS to US corporations. His comments to Tory party members about his plans for the NHS need to be clarified immediately.”

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Boris Johnson Refuses to Deny Staging Photo with Carrie Symonds for Media

Boris Johnson, one of the two remaining candidates in the contest to become the leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, has refused to deny that he staged a photo with his partner for political reasons.

In an interview on LBC Radio, Johnson said:

“The difficulty is that, the minute you say one thing, you obviously are bringing people, your loved ones, your family, into the public domain in a way that is not fair.”

When asked if he had deliberately though staged a photo and brought his partner into the public domain, Johnson said:

“The longer we spend on things extraneous to what I want to do, the bigger the waste of time.”

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Sky News Say Televised Debate will be Cancelled as Boris Johnson Refuses to Take Part

Sky News have said that Boris Johnson has refused to accept an invitation to appear in a televised debate with Jeremy Hunt, which would have allowed both candidates to make their case to become leader of the Conservative Party.

Sky News said:

“Jeremy Hunt has agreed to take part, but Boris Johnson has so far declined the invitation. We stand ready to host a debate tomorrow evening if both candidates make themselves available.”

A spokesperson for Jeremy Hunt’s campaign team said:

“Whoever wants to be Prime Minister must face up now to the intense scrutiny that comes with the job, anything less is deeply disrespectful to our members. Trying to duck debates and run down the clock until after postal ballots have been returned is just cynical and complacent. Boris Johnson must stop trying to slink into No 10 through the back door and come clean about his programme for government.”

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Conservative Split After Boris Johnson Refuses to Explain Domestic Incident

Boris Johnson, one of the two candidates in the race to become leader of the Conservative Party, has said that he isn’t prepared to talk about a domestic incident at this property on Friday. Johnson said that “people don’t want to hear” about the incident and refused to comment when asked during an interview with Iain Dale.

Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for International Trade, said:

“I think it’s always easier to just give an explanation and the key thing is then how you get onto the issue”.

John Griffin, the second largest donor to the Conservative Party, said:

“We deserve an explanation about that row, and he has to handle it properly. He can’t assume that we are going to support him when he has not explained every detail”.

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Guardian Reports Disturbance at House of Boris Johnson

The Guardian newspaper has reported of a domestic disturbance at the property where Boris Johnson is currently living with his partner Carrie Symonds.

The newspaper reported:

“The neighbour said they recorded the altercation from inside their flat out of concern for Symonds. On the recording, heard by the Guardian, Johnson can be heard refusing to leave the flat and telling Symonds to “get off my fucking laptop” before there is a loud crashing noise.

Symonds is heard saying Johnson had ruined a sofa with red wine: “You just don’t care for anything because you’re spoilt. You have no care for money or anything.”

The neighbour said: “There was a smashing sound of what sounded like plates. There was a couple of very loud screams that I’m certain were Carrie and she was shouting to ‘get out’ a lot. She was saying ‘get out of my flat’ and he was saying no. And then there was silence after the screaming. My partner, who was in bed half asleep, had heard a loud bang and the house shook.””

Boris Johnson, who is currently favourite in the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister, refused to comment.