Brexit leader Nigel Farage has warned that the Conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing the “biggest electoral cataclysm” since 1997, amid the growing scandal surrounding former deputy whip Chris Pincher.
With Boris Johnson and other government figures facing accusations of lying to the public about whether they were aware of sexually inappropriate behaviour on the part of former Conservative MP Christopher Pincher, veteran political campaigner Nigel Farage predicted that the government would face a similar downfall to the John Major administration in 1997 when the Tories were defeated by Tony Blair’s left-wing Labour Party due to a series of sleaze scandals.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that today we are facing one of the biggest crises of confidence in government and the people that run us that I’ve ever seen in my lifetime,” Mr Farage said.
“This is a government built on lies, they think they can lie their way out of any situation,” he added, continuing to warn that if Johnson stays in office, then the Conservatives are “headed for the biggest electoral cataclysm since 1997, it might be even worse than that.”
“Now is the time to find out whether the party can be saved or whether it’s going to be dragged down with Johnson and a bunch of college kids running number ten,” Farage declared.
Boris Johnson’s former deputy chief whip, Christopher Pincher, resigned from the whip’s office last week after allegations surfaced that he sexually groped two men at London’s Carlton Club.
While Pincher admitted to drinking “far too much” on the night in question and feeling “embarrassed,” as well as seeking professional medical help, he has so far denied any criminal behaviour.
Despite his denials, he has since had the Tory whip removed from him in the House of Commons, meaning he now sits as an independent MP in parliament.
Even before the Pincher affair, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government had been beset by a series of scandals, prompting the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs to vote on his leadership’s future last month.
Though Mr Johnson survived the vote, which under current rules should prevent another vote for a year, there have been calls to change the committee’s rules to allow another vote sooner.