Will There Be A General Election?

Yesterday saw two of the Government’s most important members, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, resign from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet.

Javid claimed that the current regime was not “acting in the national interest,” while Sunak stated that the public expect the government to conduct itself “properly, competently and seriously.”

Both Javid and Sunak resigned minutes after Johnson apologised for appointing MP Chris Pincher to a sernior role in 2019 despite Pincher facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. 

Pincher’s appointment saw Johnson become a figure of fierce critique, so much so that the Prime Minister has admitted that “in hindsight, it was the wrong thing to do.”

Now with two key members of his cabinet gone, the Conservative government is hanging in the balance, appearing the weakest it has ever been.

The UK is now gearing up for a national political shake up, but is an election realistically on the cards?

Will There Be A General Election?

Despite the crumbling of Johnson’s cabinet, there is unlikely to be a general election unless Johnson uses his powers to call one himself.

Even if Johnson himself chooses to leave Parliament, there will still be no general election.

The next general election is to be held in 2024, five years after the current UK government was first elected back in 2019.

Until then, the Conservative Party will remain in power, and UK voters will have to wait until 2024 to decide which political party they want to lead the country.

Although a general election is now unfeasible, this doesn’t mean that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself won’t resign, as the pressure placed on him by his own party may force him to walk out.

This is not the first time that Johnson has faced pressure from his own party either.

In June, a vote of no confidence was called, and Johnson luckily dodged the prospect of his own resignation after 41% of MPs voted against him.

However, Johnson still has his foreign secretary, home secretary, business secretary and defence secretary, leaving his cabinet at least somewhat stable after yesterday’s double resignations. 

So, instead of questioning when the next general election might be, the UK is currently left wondering who might fill Johnson’s boots, as his time as Prime Minister seems to be waning.