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Brexit to exit: The rise and fall of Boris Johnson
But the luck of a man once likened to a "greased piglet" for his ability to escape controversies finally ran out, after a slew of high-profile resignations from his scandal-hit government.
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In this file photo taken on September 07, 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (center), Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid (left) and Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak attend a press conference inside the Downing Street Briefing Room in central London. Britain's finance minister Rishi Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid both on July 5, 2022, announced their resignations, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire for his handling of a sleaze scandal involving a senior colleague.
(AFP/Toby Melville)
B
oris Johnson rode his luck throughout his career, bouncing back from a succession of setbacks and scandals that would have sunk other less popular politicians.
But the luck of a man once likened to a "greased piglet" for his ability to escape controversies finally ran out, after a slew of high-profile resignations from his scandal-hit government.
The departure of cabinet big hitters Rishi Sunak as finance minister and Sajid Javid as health secretary on Tuesday weakened the under-pressure prime minister just as he needed allies the most.
His expected departure Thursday -- after a tidal wave of resignations from his top team -- comes just three years after he took over from Theresa May in an internal Conservative leadership contest.
He called a snap general election that December, winning the biggest Tory parliamentary majority since the heyday of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
That allowed him to unblock years of political paralysis after the 2016 Brexit vote, to take Britain out of the European Union in January 2020.
But he has faced criticism since, from his handling of the coronavirus pandemic to allegations of corruption, cronyism, double standards and duplicity.
