Rishi Sunak Criticizes Boris Johnson As The 10th Resignation Buffet

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Boris Johnson was publicly criticized on Thursday by Chancellor Rishi Sunak for his behaviour, in a chaotic day when four of the prime minister’s top aides left Downing Street.

Munira Mirza, head of Johnson’s policy unit and close ally of nearly 15 years, has resigned, denouncing Johnson’s claim on Monday that Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer had failed to prosecute late sex offender Jimmy Savile.

Rather than defending Johnson, Sunak used a Downing Street press conference to describe Mirza as an “important colleague” while undermining the prime minister by saying: “Honestly, I wouldn’t say that.”

Mirza’s allies say she quit “on a point of principle”, but within hours Johnson launched a brutal, if long-anticipated campaign to liquidate his Downing Street team, with other top advisers headed to the exit.

Dan Rosenfeld, Johnson’s chief of staff, resigned after failing to control the chaotic Operation 10, which was torn apart by the factions.

Munira Mirza has worked with Johnson since he was Mayor of London © PA

Martin Reynolds, the chief private secretary in Johnson’s office who organized the “bring your own booze” ceremony in Downing Street Park, also resigned after a conversation with Johnson.

Jack Doyle, Johnson’s director of communications, also left to tell friends that he had only intended to do the job for two years.

Some Conservative MPs had called for a reform of the system as the price to continue supporting the embattled prime minister. Conservative Party insiders claimed Johnson decided to launch Fix 10 on Thursday to give the impression that Mirza’s sudden resignation was part of a strategy.

This reflected badly on the prime minister’s supporters because they “indicate that Munira was part of a planned liquidation,” said Nikki Da Costa, Johnson’s former chief legal officer.

Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former chief adviser, urged others to join the exodus, writing on Twitter that the prime minister was “done”. “Pay what collapses,” he added.

Sunak said he would “miss working with Munira”, who was arguably Johnson’s most valuable aide since his days as mayor of London.

Downing Street officials say Johnson views his adviser, a potential leadership rival, with growing distrust.

Mirza said in her resignation letter that the prime minister had “no fair or reasonable basis” to accuse Starmer, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, of failing to take action against Savile, a pedophile.

This was not the usual direction of politics; It was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrific case of child sexual abuse,” she wrote in her resignation letter.

Speaking before Mirza’s resignation on Thursday, Johnson tried to back down on the issue: “I am not talking about the leader of the opposition’s personal record when he was the DPP and I fully understand that he has nothing personally to do with these decisions.”

The resignations intensified speculation about Johnson’s future as party leader. Three other Conservative lawmakers publicly submitted letters of no confidence in him on Wednesday.

Mirza was promptly replaced as Head of Political Unit 10 by Andrew Griffiths, Sky’s former CFO who became an MP in 2019. In what turned out to be a farewell brief by Doyle, he told the Financial Times that Griffiths would be “creative and imaginary” in the role.

Downing Street officials said a huge chasm has opened around the Savile rift. Some of his aides urged Johnson to apologize while others believed the row would provide political cover for the party-gate scandal.

Mirza’s exit comes after lobbying the prime minister to reform his Downing Street process in response to the findings of the Gray Report, which cited “failures in leadership and governance” of parties in Downing Street and Whitehall.

Mirza was seen as the leading light on the dwindling City Hall faction that followed Johnson on a journey from his time as mayor of London, through the Brexit referendum to Downing Street.

The Prime Minister is very fond of her. He has been very loyal to her. She has been with him from the start, from City Hall to No. 10, Goto Hari, Johnson’s former spokesman, told the Financial Times. Extremely.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister on Thursday also faced an official reprimand from the head of Britain’s Statistics Authority over his use of crime data in the House of Commons.

Additional reporting by Sebastian Payne and Robert Wright

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