Johnson has suffered several storms during his time as prime minister, but this may be a crisis too.
Here’s what you need to know.
The immediate cause of the crisis was the aftermath of the resignation last Thursday of Whip deputy director Chris Pincher, amid allegations that he had run into two guests at a private dinner the night before.
What put Johnson in deeper trouble, however, were the contortions suffered by Downing Street press officers as they tried to explain why Pincher was never in government in the first place.
At first, when new reports emerged about Pincher’s historic conduct in light of his resignation, Downing Street denied that the prime minister knew anything about the allegations, related to Pincher’s time as foreign minister. .
When it became clear that this would not apply, Johnson’s team said it was aware of the historic allegations, but that they had been “resolved.”
When he realized that one of the previously unreported allegations against Pincher had been confirmed, Johnson’s spokesman explained that “resolved” could mean it had been upheld.
Then, Tuesday morning, Simon McDonald, the former Foreign Office official, revealed that Johnson had been informed in person of the outcome of an investigation into Pincher’s conduct, prompting a wave of resignations throughout the day.
What happens next?
Boris Johnson is still in control of his own destiny … for now.
Conservative Party rules dictate that if a leader wins a vote of confidence, then he or she is immune to another challenge for 12 months. Johnson survived a vote of confidence on June 6.
However, the current crisis is so deep that it is possible that the Committee of Members of the Conservative Parliament of the later bank of 1922 could rewrite the rules to get rid of the Prime Minister.
The committee met on Wednesday and decided to hold an election for a new leadership on Monday. Once elected, the new committee executive will decide whether to change the rules and move forward with another vote of confidence, one that Johnson would be much more likely to lose.
Up to this point, the question is how much public humiliation Johnson can endure. Dozens of lawmakers have now left the government and on Wednesday evening a delegation of cabinet members took to Downing Street to demand the resignation of the prime minister.
One of them, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, told Johnson that the party’s overall vision was that she had to go, a source close to Patel told CNN.
More government ministers will almost certainly resign and opposition sources speak of the possibility of desertions.
What if Johnson resigns?
In the UK, the resignation of a prime minister does not automatically trigger a general election.
If Johnson resigned, the Conservative Party would hold internal elections to elect a new leader, who would later become prime minister.
Johnson would likely remain in office until his successor was elected, as had his predecessors Theresa May and David Cameron when they resigned in May 2019 and June 2016, respectively.
Except for another resignation or early election, the new prime minister would lead the UK until the next election scheduled for 2024.