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Boris Johnson’s bid for re-election as British prime minister was rocked by a cabinet resignation on the day the Conservative leader launches the start of his official campaign.
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns quit after claims that he knew about a former aide’s role in the collapse of a rape trial. Cairns’s exit is a serious blow for the Tory Party at the start of one of the most unpredictable British election contests in recent history.
Johnson was trying to get his campaign back on track after another cabinet minister — Jacob Rees-Mogg — was forced to apologize on Tuesday for comments he made about people killed in a tower-block fire.
Must read: Doubts Over Russia’s U.K. Meddling After Johnson Sits On Report
Key developments:
Johnson meets monarch before statement in Downing Street at 1 p.m.Johnson compares Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to Stalin in Telegraph columnCorbyn speaking in Telford, England. The Green Party launched its campaign in Bristol and Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson will visit a school in London at 2.30 p.m.Johnson will hold a rally in the West Midlands in the evening
Johnson Loses Second Cabinet Minister (12:05 p.m.)
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns quit Boris Johnson’s cabinet, the second minister to do so since the election was called.
Cairns said he was resigning over allegations relating to a former aide. The aide had been criticized by the judge in a rape case for giving inadmissible evidence, which he said had sabotaged the trial. At issue was how much Cairns knew about the case before the aide was chosen as a Welsh Assembly candidate.
“This is a very sensitive matter, and in light of continued speculation, I write to tender my resignation as Secretary of State for Wales,” Cairns wrote in a letter to Johnson. “I will cooperate in full with the investigation under the Ministerial Code which will now take place and I am confident I will be cleared of any breach or wrong doing.”
It’s the second ministerial resignation since the election was called, after Nicky Morgan quit as Work and Pensions Secretary last week. She said she was leaving politics, citing the impact on her family and the “abuse” faced by politicians.
Corbyn Targets Leave Supporters (11:15 a.m.)
Corbyn hit the campaign trail in Telford, where the Tories have a majority of just 720 votes. It’s a key seat because Labour needs to convince the 63% of residents who voted to leave the EU in 2016 that it’s a party which can still represent them.
The scale of the challenge was shown in a YouGov poll published Nov. 1, which found only 43% of past Labour voters who also voted leave still intend to back the party.
“Many people in our country have grown weary of politics,” Corbyn told the rally in Telford, Shropshire. “Westminster hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory recently. It’s a long, long way from the reality of people’s lives.”
In an appeal to traditional Labour voters, Corbyn repeated his call-and-response chant that the state-run National Health Service is “not for sale.” He also attacked Jacob Rees-Mogg’s comments on the Grenfell fire tragedy (see 8 a.m.). “Do you want leaders who think they are above us all?” he asked, as he portrayed the Tories as rich and out-of-touch with the concerns of voters.
Johnson Meets Queen as Campaign Begins (10:30 a.m.)
Boris Johnson traveled to Buckingham Palace to meet with Queen Elizabeth II to formally inform her of the start of the general election campaign.
The prime minister and the head of state spoke for about 25 minutes before Johnson returned to his office in Downing Street. He will make a statement to cameras at 1 p.m. before traveling to his campaign launch on Wednesday evening, his office said.
Labour Struggles to Shake Antisemitism Charge (8:30 a.m.)
The opposition Labour Party is seizing on Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg’s comments about the Grenfell Tower fire (see 8 a.m.) to try to demonstrate the Conservatives are out of touch with ordinary voters.
“I think it reflects an arrogance about Jacob Rees-Mogg which is not going to help the Tory Party at this election,” Labour’s home affairs spokeswoman Diane Abbott told BBC radio earlier.
Yet Labour faces its own perception battle after three Jewish newspapers called leader Jeremy Corbyn a danger to their community for failing to tackle antisemitism in his party. Abbott said Labour is trying to stamp out the problem but also added: “It’s not every element of the Jewish community that believes Jeremy is an antisemite.”
Cleverly on Back Foot Defending Rees-Mogg (8 a.m.)
Instead of launching his party’s election campaign, Conservative Chairman James Cleverly had the task of defending colleagues amid the fallout from Jacob Rees-Mogg’s remarks about the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people in 2017. The leader of the House of Commons was forced to apologize after he said in a radio interview it would have been “common sense” to flee the building — against fire service advice.
But his remarks were amplified by Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who suggested Rees-Mogg would have survived the fire because he is more “clever” than the victims. Bridgen himself apologized on Wednesday.
Johnson’s Tories Stumble as Senior Minister Forced to Apologize
“What they said was wrong and they have apologized for that,” Cleverly told ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’ program on Wednesday. “We want to focus on the future and indeed on the priorities of all of the whole of the U.K. including people who live in hardship and poverty.” Cleverly later told the BBC Rees-Mogg and Bridgen don’t need to resign because they had apologized.
Farage Offers Pact with Rival Candidates (7:40 a.m.)
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said he is in talks with euroskeptic Conservative and Labour Party candidates about standing aside in their constituencies in exchange for a promise not to support Boris Johnson’s EU withdrawal agreement in Parliament.
It comes after Johnson rebuffed an offer from Farage for a nationwide pact. Farage said he would back a no-deal Brexit, while Johnson said he was pressing ahead with the agreement he struck with the EU.
“We are happy to talk to Conservatives, or indeed Labour MPs,” Farage told BBC TV. “I will always put country before party to get us free.”
Earlier:
Johnson Tries to Get On Front Foot After Day of SetbacksDoubts Over Russia’s U.K. Meddling After Johnson Sits On Report‘Get Brexit Done’ Rings Hollow for Baffled British Businesses
–With assistance from Alex Morales and Thomas Penny.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kitty Donaldson in London at [email protected];Robert Hutton in London at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at [email protected], Stuart Biggs
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