In the end, he couldn’t last any longer.
Boris Johnson steps down as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following intense pressure from party colleagues, with over 50 resignations within government from cabinet level down.
Those included his newly-appointed duo, Education Secretary Michelle Donelan and Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, both of whom quit after less than 48 hours after accepting new roles. After the flood of resignations, his position was untenable, despite his PMQs stance on Wednesday that he’d be going nowhere.
“Good riddance” declared the Labour MP John McDonnell as Johnson’s decision to resign leaked to the public on Thursday morning.
“The Prime Minister will make a statement to the country today,” confirmed No.10 shortly after 9am.
But even in the darkest times, there is always humour. You just have to be able to find it. And former England striker turned Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker didn’t have to look far.
Seeing Johnson’s list of resignations hit 52 earlier in the morning, Lineker took to Twitter, with a nod to England’s all-time record goalscorers, to declare: “With 52, Boris Johnson has now ahead of Harry Kane and is just one behind Wayne Rooney.”
But there was more to come. His piece de resistance. Something that football fans everywhere, regardless of their political leanings, understood implicitly.
“He’s going. Give it to Big Sam for the rest of the season.”
Thirteen words. Simplicity. Brilliance.
Ex-England boss Sam Allardyce had long been the Premier League's firefighter extraordinaire, the man to call if your team was in relegation trouble and desired a new man to right the ship…well, until he pitched up at West Brom anyway.
Typically, Lineker’s tweet provoked a range of opinions and no little emotion… particularly from those of a Tory persuasion.
Yet, there's no denying that where the football-politics crossover market is concerned, it hit its mark.
