Boris Johnson announced his resignation as UK foreign minister on Monday. It was the second resignation from Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet in less than 24 hours, after Brexit Secretary David Davis' quit his post on Sunday.

Downing Street announced that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt would take Johnson's place. Hunt, a conservative member of parliament, is thought to be more closely aligned with May's views on Brexit.

David Davis was replaced by Dominic Raab, a Euroskeptic junior housing minister, who was a "Leave" campaigner in 2016.

Read more: Opinion: Chaos rules supreme in London

The announcement of Johnson's departure followed a day of confusion, with the minister absent first from a COBRA national security meeting connected to Russia and Novichok, and then from an EU-Balkans summit he was hosting in London.

"This afternoon, the Prime Minister accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary," an emailed statement from May's office said. "His replacement will be announced shortly. The Prime Minister thanks Boris for his work."

The departures represent a blow to Theresa May, as Johnson and Davis are the sixth and seventh cabinet secretaries to leave her government since the ill-fated June 2016 snap election that shrunk the size of the Conservatives majority in parliament.

Conflict over 'soft Brexit'

Boris Johnson and former Brexit Secretary David Davis' resignations underline May's struggle to unite her Conservative party as negotiations for Britain's withdrawal from the European Union enter their crucial phase.

During a 12-hour Cabinet meeting at the prime minister's country residence Chequers on Friday, May appeared to have secured approval for a so-called "soft Brexit" — with the UK retaining strong economic ties to the EU after leaving. However, in private, Johnson, a vocal pro-Brexit voice in the government, reportedly criticized May's plans as "polishing a turd."

In her letter to Johnson, May said: "I am sorry — and a little surprised — to receive (the resignation letter) after the productive discussions we had at Chequers on Friday, and the comprehensive and detailed proposal which we agreed as a Cabinet."

After announcing his resignation late on Sunday, Davis told British media he was stepping down because he did not believe in May's Brexit plan, claiming it would leave the UK "in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one."

Both Davis and Johnson are said to now believe that a "no deal" Brexit would be preferable to May's plans.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes 'Hello, is this the Armenian premier?' In May 2018, Russian pranksters managed to hold an 18-minute long phone call with Johnson by pretending to be Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. During the call, Johnson said the UK would continue to squeeze the Russian regime by targeting London-based oligarchs. The pranksters also brought up the Skripals' poisoning in Salisbury, though Johnson mostly struck to his public pronouncements.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Ireland's post-Brexit border like London congestion charge In February 2018, Boris Johnson likened the challenges posed by the Irish border post-Brexit to the boundaries between different London boroughs. The Irish opposition described the comments as extraordinary, adding that "trivializing the very serious concerns relating to Ireland displays a dangerous ignorance that must be challenged."

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Johnson jeopardizes case for British-Iranian mother jailed in Iran During a foreign affairs committee hearing in November 2017, Johnson said British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been detained in Tehran while "simply teaching people journalism." Her family criticized the foreign secretary for making reportedly misleading comments that jeopardized her case. Iran has long viewed the BBC's Persian broadcasting service as a subversive arm of MI6.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Libya's Sirte could be 'new Dubai' if they 'clear the dead bodies away' Addressing a UK business forum in October 2017, Johnson told how fighting in Libya had prevented a group of investors from transforming the coastal city of Sirte "into the next Dubai." Johnson added that "the only thing they have got to do is clear the dead bodies away." Downing Street chided him for his remarks, while Johnson accused his critics of having "no knowledge or understanding" of Libya.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Johnson accused of 'incredible insensitivity' during Myanmar visit Johnson was accused of "incredible insensitivity" during a state visit to Myanmar in September 2017, as he recited part of a colonial-era Rudyard Kipling poem in front of local dignitaries at a sacred Buddhist site. Visibly embarrassed, Britain's Myanmar ambassador forced the foreign secretary to stop halfway through his impromptu recital.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Johnson compares France's Francois Hollande to POW guard Johnson caused uproar early on in his career as foreign secretary by comparing then French President Francois Hollande to a WWII prisoner of war guard for seeking to punish the UK for leaving the EU. “If Mr Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who chooses to escape, rather in the manner of some World War II movie, I don’t think that is the way forward... ” said Johnson.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Johnson likens EU project to Third Reich In May 2016, as the Brexit campaign was entering its ill-tempered final phase, Johnson told media that European history was marked by repeated attempts to unify the continent. "Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically," Johnson said. “The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods. But fundamentally ... there is no underlying loyalty to the idea of Europe.”

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Obama accused of harboring 'ancestral dislike' of the UK US President Barack Obama's intervention in the Brexit referendum in April 2016 provoked a furious reaction from Johnson. After Obama said the UK would be better off remaining part of the EU, Johnson described the US president "part Kenyan" and accused him of harboring an "ancestral dislike" of the United Kingdom.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes The president and the goat After Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan complained about German comedian Jan Böhmermann calling him a "goat f---er" in March 2016, the UK's "Spectator" newspaper, which Johnson used to edit, ran a competition for readers to submit their own poems about Erdogan. Johnson's poem, in which he called the Turkish president from Ankara "a terrific wankerer," was awarded the £1,000 ($1,325, €1,127) prize.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes The 10-year-old victim of Johnson's competitive edge In October 2015, Boris Johnson was forced to apologize as his competitive nature on the sports field saw him knock over a 10-year-old during what was supposed to be an informal game of rugby in Tokyo. Despite being bulldozed to the ground by the then-mayor of London, the young Toki Sekiguchi appeared unfazed by the incident, saying later he "enjoyed" meeting Johnson.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes The zip-line incident Johnson sought to mark Team GB's first gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London with a high flying zip-line act. However, as he zipped across Victoria Park, the mayor lost momentum and came to a halt, leaving him dangling above a crowd of mystified onlookers. “I think they needed to test this on somebody going a bit faster,” he told onlookers, before urging them to get him a ladder.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Cannibalism in Papua New Guinea Johnson was lampooned for one of his columns in "The Telegraph" in 2006, in which he compared infighting within the UK's Conservative and Labour parties to "Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing." Johnson issued an openly sarcastic apology, saying he did not mean to insult the people of Papua New Guinea, "who I am sure lead lives of blameless bourgeois domesticity."

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Johnson accuses Liverpool of wallowing in their Hillsborough 'victims' status' As editor of the "Spectator" in 2004, Johnson claimed that drunken supporters of Liverpool football club were partly to blame for the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 fans lost their lives. Johnson went on to accuse Liverpudlians of wallowing in their "victims' status." A coroner's inquest concluded in 2016 that the supporters were unlawfully killed due to police negligence.

Boris Johnson's worst diplomatic gaffes Racist portrayal of Africa colonies and DRC In another column for the "Daily Telegraph" in 2002, Johnson wrote that the Queen loved the Commonwealth "partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies." Also writing ahead of Prime Minister Tony Blair's trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UK's future top diplomat described how "the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles." Author: David Martin



Addressing parliament after Johnson's resignation in a turbulent atmosphere, May also repeatedly alluded to the prospect of leaving without a deal if necessary. However, she insisted that her Brexit blueprint was the only way to avoid a hard Irish border, and that there was a chance Brussels would move to accept it.

"What we are proposing is challenging for the EU," May told the House of Commons. "It requires them to think again, to look beyond the positions they have taken so far and to agree a new and fair balance of rights and obligations."

Johnson: Brexit 'dream is dying'

In his resignation letter, Johnson accused the government plan of relegating the UK's status to effectively that of a colony.

"We are now in the ludicrous position of asserting that we must accept huge amounts of precisely such EU law, without changing an iota, because it is essential for our economic health — and when we no longer have any ability to influence these laws as they are made," Johnson wrote. "In that respect we are truly headed for the status of a colony."

"The dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt."

Brussels responds to UK Cabinet resignations

Commenting on recent spate of resignations in Westminster, European Council President Donald Tusk told reporters that the "mess caused by Brexit" was a problem that wouldn't disappear alongside the political departures.

Asked about his reaction to Johnson's resignation, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker sarcastically remarked that "this clearly proves that at Chequers, there was unity in the cabinet."

Farage vows comeback if government fails on Brexit

Nigel Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), pledged late on Monday that he would return to politics if for whatever reason the UK failed to meet its March 2019 deadline for leaving the EU.

Read more: Nigel Farage addresses Germany's far-right AfD

"My own red line is that if Article 50 is suspended or delayed, I will have no chance but to resume campaigning in all parts of the United Kingdom," Farage said during his talk show on UK's LBC radio, adding that he would even consider putting his name forward to once again becoming UKIP leader.

"I never thought I would say that again, but the government's sell-out leaves me with no choice. The latest Brexit betrayal must be reversed."

dm, jcg/aw (Reuters, AP, AFP)

British Prime Minister Theresa May's changing Cabinet Boris Johnson Boris Johnson resigned as UK foreign minister on Monday, the second resignation from Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet in less than 24 hours. The conservative had been a key face for the Leave campaign ahead of Britain's 2016 referendum. He seemed to quit in protest at May's plans to push through a "soft Brexit." May's position seemed fragile even before two key ministers quit.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's changing Cabinet David Davis Citing disagreement with the prime minister over EU divorce talks, Brexit Secretary David Davis quit his post late on Sunday. Davis, who served as UK's top Brexit negotiator, said Theresa May's policy could leave the UK in an "inescapable" negotiating position.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's changing Cabinet Amber Rudd In April 2018, Home Secretary Amber Rudd resigned when reports surfaced of UK authorities mistreating long-term British residents from the Caribbean. The officials wrongly labeled the so-called "Windrush Generation" as illegal immigrants. London originally invited the migrants to help rebuild UK economy after World War II, with the ship "Windrush" transporting the first group to the UK shores.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's changing Cabinet Michael Fallon Michael Fallon stepped down as British defense secretary in November 2017 after apologizing for touching a journalist's knee in 2002 and other allegations of inappropriate conduct that have not been made public. In his letter of resignation, Fallon said he had "fallen short of the high standards" expected of the military. Fallon was replaced by Gavin Williamson, one of May's trusted allies.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's changing Cabinet Priti Patel International Development Secretary Priti Patel also reigned in November, after being found to have had 12 undisclosed meetings with officials in Israel, including with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in breach of diplomatic protocol. Patel discussed the possibility of British aid being used to support medical assistance for Syrian refugees arriving in the Golan Heights.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's changing Cabinet Damian Green First Secretary of State Damian Green was forced to resign after an inquiry found he made misleading statements about pornographic material found on a computer in his parliamentary office in 2008. A key ally of Prime Minister Theresa May, he was named secretary of state after May lost a parliamentary majority in early elections. Green was among those who urged Britons to vote to say in the EU.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's changing Cabinet Jo Johnson Jo Johnson, the the Remain-backing younger brother of Boris Johnson, quit May's government in November over her "delusional" Brexit plans. Johnson said the withdrawal agreement being discussed by the European Union and British leaders would be a "terrible mistake" that would leave Britain weaker economically and with "no say" in EU rules it must follow, and years of uncertainty for business. Author: Darko Janjevic



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