Boris Johnson gathered his rapidly diminishing No 10 team in the cabinet room on Friday morning and invoked the spirit of the Lion King film, telling them “change is good”.
After five senior departures from Downing Street in the past 24 hours alone, including that of his longstanding policy chief Munira Mirza, Johnson’s official spokesman said he had sought to reassure colleagues.
“He reflected on the privilege of working in No 10, in order to deliver for the British people, and reiterated his and No 10’s commitment to serving the public by keeping people safe, improving lives and spreading opportunity,” the spokesman said.
“The prime minister acknowledges that this is a challenging time as we go through a period of change. But as he reiterated to the whole team today, there’s an important job to do,” he added.
The spokesman confirmed that Johnson had said “change is good”, telling aides he was quoting from the Lion King.
Mirza quit dramatically on Thursday, citing Johnson’s attempt to smear Keir Starmer over the failure to prosecute the paedophile Jimmy Savile, for which the prime minister has refused to apologise.
In a fresh blow for Johnson, health secretary Sajid Javid publicly distanced himself from the prime minister’s remarks about Savile on Friday.
He said Keir Starmer had done “a good job” as director of public prosecutions, “and he should be respected for it.” He added, “it’s a tough job and he deserves absolute respect for that”. Javid added that the prime minister had “clarified those remarks, and that’s important”.
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, distanced himself from Johnson for those comments, saying: “I wouldn’t have said it.”
Three more resignations were announced later on Thursday, in what was widely seen as an attempt to seize back control of the narrative. But another adviser, Elena Narozanski, then resigned from the No 10 policy unit on Friday morning.
Johnson’s spokesman said the three men whose departures were announced on Thursday evening – the communications director, Jack Doyle, the principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, and the PM’s chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield – would stay on for a short period while their successors are recruited.
Reynolds is a civil servant, who is expected to return to his former department of the Foreign Office. The spokesman said recruitment for his post, a powerful role whose holder acts as a gatekeeper to the prime minister, would begin immediately.
Johnson had been promising MPs a drastic overhaul of his Downing Street operation since Sue Gray’s report into lockdown parties identified “failures of leadership and judgment”. He told MPs on Monday after the report was published: “I get it and I will fix it.”
The prime minister moved quickly on Thursday to appoint Andrew Griffith, who had previously acted as his liaison with Tory MPs, to a ministerial post as the new head of the No 10 policy unit, succeeding Mirza.
Johnson’s spokesman said further announcements on a new structure inside No 10 and who would take over from departing staff members, would be made in the coming days.
The prime minister has been fighting for his political life since the Metropolitan police announced they would be investigating a string of lockdown gatherings.
Tory whips are braced for more potential departures, with the solicitor general, Alex Chalk, reported to be on “resignation watch”. However, while Chalk did raise concerns about the Savile comments during a meeting with Johnson, it is understood he did not threaten to resign.
Thursday’s exodus from Downing Street came on a day when No 10 had hoped the headlines would be dominated by Sunak’s measures to alleviate the cost of living crisis – the latest in a packed relaunch week that saw Johnson fly to Ukraine, and the publication of a long-awaited levelling-up white paper.
