Speculation On Whether Johnson Remains As Caretaker PM

There is some media and political speculation as to whether outgoing PM Boris Johnson should remain in place in a caretaker capacity during the course of a Conservative party leadership contest. Initial stories about Johnson stepping down as Conservative leader stated his intention to remain in place during leadership contest.

• Former Science Minister George Freeman has called for his immediate resignation from office.
• Given the huge number of resignations from the Cabinet over the past 36 hours, it is unclear how a caretaker Johnson administration would work. Many ministers that resigned are unlikely to be willing to return to their previous offices under Johnson, or Johnson could refuse to appoint them.
• Similarly, it is seen as unlikely that there are enough backbench Conservative MPs that would be willing to take a role in a caretaker position for a period of a couple of months.
• This raises the prospect of Johnson resigning as PM immediately, and recommending to Queen Elizabeth II that she should seek to appoint a new caretaker PM.
• Frontrunner for this would be Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who deputised for Johnson whenever the PM was out of the country, as well as when Johnson was in intensive care battling a severe case of COVID-19 in 2020.
• A new caretaker PM would be more likely to be able to fill caretaker roles. No new initiatives or legislation during this period, with ministers there simply to ensure smooth running of gov't operations.