So, after a tumultuous battle for few months Boris Johnson has resigned as the Prime Minister of Britain. In less than two decades he rose in the hierarchy of the Conservative Party. This period marked his term as the Mayor of London in which he successfully helped conduct the summer Olympics in 2012. A staunch supporter of Brexit, Johnson saw Britain exiting the EU. His gamble in calling for elections ahead succeeded with the Conservative Party emerging with a lead of 80 members in the British Parliament.
Johnson’s handling of the Covid seems to be his Waterloo. He was entangled in the Partygate scandal, accused of freely partying at the peak of the Covid pandemic even while lockdowns and other restrictions severely impacted the citizens. This was further exacerbated by other scandals involving his party colleagues and led to his cabinet colleagues deserting him in quick succession. With inflation raging, presently estimated around 9.1 per cent and the problems of Brexit not fully solved, Johnson could not tide over the dissensions and tendered his resignation.
There are prospects for Rishi Sunak of Indian origin, who functioned as the Chancellor of Exchequer under Johnson, succeeding the latter. Sunak is the son-in-law of Infosys Founder, N R Narayanamurthy.
