Boris Johnson has resigned.
The current UK Prime Minister became increasingly beleaguered in recent weeks, his decision to appoint Chris Pincher to Chief Whip of the Conservative party blown apart by sexual assault allegations lodged against the politician.
The story dominated headlines, and added to the perception of Tory sleaze, and a lawless government who clearly felt they could do as they wished.
With the mud refusing to wash away, a number of MPs in his cabinet downed tool, issuing notices of resignation on social media. Tim Burgess was quite to note a curious facet of trivia, relating to Mark E Smith and the many members of The Fall:
66 ex-members of The Fall in 40 years.
— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) July 6, 2022
38 ex-members of the government in 24 hours.
Some resignations had a curiously musical tone, such as this rather left-field reference to a Jimmy Eat World track. Truly, we live in unprecedented times.
Some resign through letters, others in person, others through the medium of Jimmy Eat World. pic.twitter.com/B4Im7IwEyp
— Nish Kumar (@MrNishKumar) July 6, 2022
At times, the rolling headlines took on a hallucinogenic, can-this-really-be-happening air…
Are we all still tripping from #Glastonbury? Feels like it.#BorisJohnson
— Michael Eavis (@MichaelEavis1) July 6, 2022
When the news broke, the reaction was swift, celebratory, and in the most cases pretty simple: relief.
Thank fuck
— Paul Thomas Saunders (@PaulTSaunders) July 7, 2022
Goooood morning ❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/VU6um3pBYq
— rachel chinouriri (@rachelchinourir) July 7, 2022
Some were keen to point out that those who facilitated this current mess should not go unpunished.
Congratulations to the many MPs and cabinet ministers who finally noticed after decades of evidence that the guy they had enthusiastically backed was a terrible self-serving country-denigrating tool. Either way at least we have flushed the stool.
— Shaun Keaveny 💙 (@shaunwkeaveny) July 7, 2022
Celebrate, sure, but don’t underestimate the likelihood that we’ll be going from one evil fuck to an even more evil fuck.
— Rebecca Lucy Taylor (@SELFESTEEM___) July 7, 2022
Didn’t even last as long as Theresa May. A hideous joke of a human being who’s legacy is that of incompetence, shame and lawlessness. Now kindly fuck off into onbscurity Boris, you utter, utter loser.
— stuart braithwaite (@plasmatron) July 7, 2022
Hope everyone has a wonderful day, to be honest!
