After two leading ministers had already resigned their duties on Tuesday, a third British minister resigned from the government of Boris Johnson on Wednesday. Will Quince, the Secretary of State for Children and Family Affairs has handed in his letter of resignation.
He says he is stepping down after he received “incorrect information” about the appointment of Chris Pincher, the official who had to resign last week because he was alleged to have groped two men.
Secretary Quince appeared in the media on Tuesday morning to say that Johnson had been unaware of previous complaints against Pincher when he was appointed. Later in the day, it turned out that he had been told at the time.
Quince says he has been assured that the Prime Minister knew nothing about the complaints and that he “accepted and reiterated that in good faith”. He now sees no option but to resign.
Quince isn’t the first to step down since the last Johnson riot. On Tuesday, crucial ministers Rishi Sunak (Finance) and Sajid Javid (Health) resigned from their duties. In addition, nine other government officials have resigned.
British media call this a crisis and several of Johnson’s party members believe that a new confidence vote should be taken. Before that, the rules would have to be adjusted first, because the prime minister survived such a vote only a month ago. He was then supported by 59 percent of his party members.