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Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Peter Davidson

Boris Johnson's 15 worst scandals and gaffes from hiding in a fridge to fighting Marcus Rashford

Boris Johnson's time as Prime Minister will officially come to an end on Tuesday, a premiership that has been plagued by gaffes and scandals.

Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will be announced the new leader of the Conservative Party at lunchtime on Monday, September 5 with one of them getting the keys to 10 Downing Street the day after.

Johnson's time in charge came crashing down over the Chris Pincher scandal. Outrage from Tory MPs and ministers resigning eventually forced the PM out the door.

It emerged he had been told about groping claims against Pincher but decided to promote him anyway.

The Pincher affair was the last straw but there were many scandals before then that added to the frustrations about Johnson within the Conservative Party.

Here are the 15 biggest scandals and gaffes during his time in charge:

1. Prorogation of parliament

Just months after taking over from Theresa May as Prime Minister Boris Johnson shut down parliament over Brexit in a bid to avoid scrutiny of his no deal plan.

He faced demands to resign after the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that he acted unlawfully. Eleven justices said shutting down the Commons for five weeks before the Brexit deadline - which he claimed was a bog standard prorogation - had an "extreme" effect on democracy.

Declaring the prorogation of Parliament "unlawful, void and of no effect", Supreme Court President Lady Hale declared: "Parliament has not been prorogued."

2. Hiding in a fridge

During the December 2019 General Election the Prime Minister hid in a fridge while out on the campaign trail in a bid to avoid an interview with Good Morning Britain (GMB).

Johnson was approached by a GMB producer during a visit to Modern Milkman in Pudsey, Yorkshire. The producer asked: "Morning prime minister, would you come on Good Morning Britain, prime minister?"

Boris Johnson hid in the fridge to avoid being interviewed (ITV)

The PM's aide could be heard mouthing, "oh for f*** sake" in response. Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid mocked the PM for hiding in a fridge instead of facing them in an interview.

3. 'Let the bodies pile high'

In April last year it emerged that Boris Johnson said he would rather allow "bodies (to) pile high in their thousands" than impose another national lockdown across the UK.

It's believed he made the comments just after the announcement of a second lockdown at the end of October in 2020. The reports were strongly denied by Downing Street saying it was "just another lie". The comments caused outrage with many calling for him to apologise.

4. Fighting Marcus Rashford over school meals

Boris Johnson's high profile spat with Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford gave the Prime Minister another bloody nose during the first national lockdown.

The Tory government was forced into two humiliating u-turns over feeding hungry kids during the summer holidays in 2020. Rashford's impressive campaign highlighted how out of touch the Tories were.

Eventually the PM caved and gave more than a million kids south of the border supermarket vouchers over the summer break. The government refused to issue £15-a-week vouchers, instead pledging a £63m pot for the worst-hit.

Manchester United player Marcus Rashford challenged the government (Getty Images)

But hours after forcing ministers to defend the position, Boris Johnson changed his mind in a Cabinet meeting.

In November, the PM made another U-turn on kids’ food over half term. Tory MPs had refused to extend the £15 vouchers over the October half term - prompting fury, and businesses and charities to step in.

But the PM then announced a £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme for Christmas. It provided extra help - though it no longer gave £15 vouchers to every eligible family, and went further than just paying for food.

5. Refusing to sack Dominic Cummings

It emerged that Boris Johnson's former top aide Dominic Cummings travelled to Barnard Castle in County Durham from London during the first coronavirus lockdown.

Despite widespread criticism from the public and politicians from all sides the former Brexit strategist refused to quit. Instead he doubled down and hit back saying he did not break any rules.

Former Number 10 special advisor Dominic Cummings eventually left his job (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Johnson looked weak throughout the entire episode and refused to sack his aide. The embarrassment cost him a significant amount of political capital.

6. Dodging self-isolation

In July last year, Boris Johnson caved to public anger and agreed to self-isolate after having contact with health Secretary Sajid Javid who tested positive for covid.

He faced growing public fury after officials said Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak would avoid self-isolating like thousands of others because Downing Street took part in a pilot daily testing programme.

After widespread anger the Tory leader took just two hours and 42 minutes to perform a dramatic U-turn. He eventually did self-isolate.

7. Afghanistan evacuation

Boris Johnson's handling of the British evacuation from Afghanistan was slammed by opposition and Tory MPs as well as military veterans.

The Prime Minister was forced to admit his handling for the crisis could have been done better.

Boris Johnson admitted his handling of the Afghanistan evacuation could have been done better (Getty Images)

In an interview with broadcaster NBC, he said: "America has been there for 20 years and it’s a respectable argument to say that enough is enough. Look, I mean, could we have done it a bit differently? Maybe we could.”

Johnson was also criticised for allowing then foreign secretary Dominic Raab to remain on holiday while the Taliban rolled into the capital Kabul to take over the country.

8. Backing Owen Paterson

In November, Johnson admitted it was a "total mistake" in trying to defend former North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson from punishment after he repeatedly broke lobbying rules.

In an evidence session he accepted that Paterson had done wrong.

It came after the PM attempted to rewrite the rules in order to get the former Environment Secretary off the hook. Johnson was slammed and performed yet another U-turn.

The scandal led to a by-election in December which the Lib Dems won. The swing of 34.2 per cent from Conservative to Lib Dem was the second largest since the war.

9. Lockdown fine

Boris Johnson was fined for breaking his own coronavirus rules (PA)

In April, Boris Johnson and his now former Chancellor Rishi Sunak were fined for attending the Prime Minister's birthday in Downing Street during the national lockdown.

Following the fine Johnson told the Commons : "I paid the fine immediately, and I offered the British people a full apology - and I take this opportunity on the first available sitting day to repeat my wholehearted apology to the House.

"As soon as I received the notice, I acknowledged the hurt and the anger - and I said that people had a right to expect better of their Prime Minister. And I repeat that, Mr Speaker, again in the House."

10. Chris Pincher

While he survived scandals over former chief aide Dominic Cummings ' infamous Barnard Castle trip during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the subsequent parties in Whitehall as Britons were locked down, and the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat which prompted the resignation of his ethics adviser, the allegations against former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher proved the final straw for Johnson.

Boris Johnson appointed Tory MP Chris Pincher (Getty Images)

Pincher quit after allegedly assaulting two men while drunk at London's Carlton Club.

Downing Street initially said Johnson had no knowledge of previous allegations against Pincher, but the Prime Minister later acknowledged he had been informed of inappropriate behaviour dating back to 2019, and said he regretted keeping him in government beyond that point.

11. Apologising to the Queen

The Prime Minister was forced to publicly apologise to the Queen over two lockdown-breaking events held the night before the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral, where restrictions forced the monarch to sit alone.

12. Not wearing face masks

Boris Johnson issued an apology in November when he was snapped not wearing a face mask while on a visit to a hospital in Hexham.

He told MPs: "There were barely 30 seconds when I wasn’t wearing a mask. I walked out of the room mistakenly not wearing it. I put it on as soon as I realised I had made the mistake. I apologise for that."

Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, Boris Johnson and Sir David Attenborough (Getty Images)

During the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow he was again pictured not wearing a mask while sat next to Sir David Attenborough.

According to the COP26 guidance attendees were told a mask must be on at all times except when eating, drinking, sitting in office/meeting spaces, conducting negotiations, giving speeches, or if medically exempt. However it did say that "face coverings should be worn when sitting in theatre-style seating".

13. Euro 2020

The Prime Minister came under pressure in the lead up to and during Euro 2020 for failing to condemn fans who booed England players from taking the knee.

A number of Tory MPs and right-wing commentators were accused of stirring up more controversy which led Johnson to say the "whole country" needed to get behind the England team.

Johnson was also mocked for turning up to England's semi-final with Denmark wearing an England football top over his shirt and tie.

14. Matt Hancock

The former Health Secretary resigned the day after video footage emerged of him kissing an aide in his ministerial office in a breach of coronavirus restrictions.

Matt Hancock leaving 10 Downing Street with former aide Gina Coladangelo (Getty Images)

Images and video showed Hancock in an embrace with aide Gina Coladangelo in May 2020, and Hancock was facing increasing pressure to quit over the breaking of social-distancing rules.

Boris Johnson was slammed by opposition and Tory MPs for not acting sooner to sack Hancock for breaching covid rules.

15. Downing Street flat

The renovation of 11 Downing Street, where Boris Johnson lived during his time in charge, led to questions about who paid for the work.

An £110,000 makeover of the flat caused controversy with Johnson trying to get Tory donor Lord Brownlow to fund the work. The idea fell apart and the PM was forced to pay the bill himself.

The Tories were fined £17,800 by the Electoral Commission for breaching electoral law over the way the money was recorded.

And key texts which showed the PM asking for more cash - and promising to raise Lord Brownlow’s idea of a Great Exhibition 2.0 in return - were withheld from ethics advisor Lord Geidt, Boris Johnson’s second after Sir Alex Allan resigned.

Lord Geidt stayed on after that row but then quit in furious protest in June 2022, weeks after clashing with the PM over partygate.

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