British PM Boris Johnson's younger brother resigns as member of Parliament as Brexit crisis deepens

In a statement, Jo Johnson said that he was "torn between family loyalty and the national interest"

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published September 5, 2019 3:44PM (EDT)

Britain's Minister of State for Universities Jo Johnson arrives to attend a meeting of the Cabinet at 10 Downing Street in central London on September 4, 2019. (Getty/ DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS)
Britain's Minister of State for Universities Jo Johnson arrives to attend a meeting of the Cabinet at 10 Downing Street in central London on September 4, 2019. (Getty/ DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS)

Jo Johnson, the younger brother of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, announced his resignation Thursday as both a member of Parliament and universities minister.

"It’s been an honour to represent Orpington for 9 years & to serve as a minister under three PMs. In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest - it’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles as MP & Minister," Johnson tweeted on Thursday.

This is the second time Jo Johnson has resigned from ministerial positions, according to Politico. In November, he resigned from a role in the transport ministry in order to vote against former Prime Minister Theresa May's failed Brexit deal. Unlike his brother, who is a Brexit hardliner, Jo Johnson supported remaining in the European Union during the 2016 referendum and has advocated for holding another vote to see if the U.K. can remain.

Jo Johnson's resignation underscores the growing political crisis in which the prime minister finds himself. Within the last two days, Boris Johnson has seen Parliament advanced a bill to make it impossible for him to leave the EU without a deal and has rejected the prime minister's call for snap elections.

"I think he has become the first, to my knowledge, the first leader of the opposition in the democratic history of our country to refuse the invitation to an election, Mr. Speaker," Boris Johnson said in a statement after his move for elections was defeated. "I can only speculate as to the reasons behind his hesitation. The obvious conclusion is — I’m afraid — that he does not think he will win."

The prime minister added, "The country must now decide whether the leader of the opposition or I go to those negotiations in Brussels on the 17th of October to sort this out."

On Monday, Boris Johnson claimed that efforts by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to prevent a no-deal Brexit would make it impossible for him to extract beneficial conditions from the EU. Johnson replaced May as prime minister in part because of his predecessor's perceived failure to strike an acceptable deal.

"I don't think they will. I hope that they won't. But if they do, they will plainly chop the legs out from under the U.K. position and make any further negotiation absolutely impossible," the prime minister said at the time. "And so I say, to show our friends in Brussels that we are united in our purpose, MPs should vote with the government against Corbyn's pointless delay. I want everybody to know there are no circumstances in which I will ask Brussels to delay. We are leaving on the 31st of October, no ifs or buts. We will not accept any attempt to go back on our promises or scrub that referendum."


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a professional writer whose work has appeared in multiple national media outlets since 2012 and exclusively at Salon since 2016. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012, was a guest on Fox Business in 2019, repeatedly warned of Trump's impending refusal to concede during the 2020 election, spoke at the Commonwealth Club of California in 2021, was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022 and appeared on NPR in 2023. His diverse interests are reflected in his interviews including: President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (1999-2001), animal scientist and autism activist Temple Grandin, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (1997-2001), director Jason Reitman ("The Front Runner"), inventor Ernő Rubik, comedian Bill Burr ("F Is for Family"), novelist James Patterson ("The President's Daughter"), epidemiologist Monica Gandhi, theoretical cosmologist Janna Levin, voice actor Rob Paulsen ("Animaniacs"), mRNA vaccine pioneer Katalin Karikó, philosopher of science Vinciane Despret, actor George Takei ("Star Trek"), climatologist Michael E. Mann, World War II historian Joshua Levine (consultant to "Dunkirk"), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (2013-present), dog cognition researcher Alexandra Horowitz, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson (2012, 2016), comedian and writer Larry Charles ("Seinfeld"), seismologist John Vidale, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman (2000), Ambassador Michael McFaul (2012-2014), economist Richard Wolff, director Kevin Greutert ("Saw VI"), model Liskula Cohen, actor Rodger Bumpass ("SpongeBob Squarepants"), Senator John Hickenlooper (2021-present), Senator Martin Heinrich (2013-present), Egyptologist Richard Parkinson, Rep. Eric Swalwell (2013-present), Fox News host Tucker Carlson, actor R. J. Mitte ("Breaking Bad"), theoretical physicist Avi Loeb, biologist and genomics entrepreneur William Haseltine, comedian David Cross ("Scary Movie 2"), linguistics consultant Paul Frommer ("Avatar"), Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (2007-2015), computer engineer and Internet co-inventor Leonard Kleinrock and right-wing insurrectionist Roger Stone.

MORE FROM Matthew Rozsa


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

All Salon Boris Johnson Brexit Europe European Union Jo Johnson News & Politics Politics United Kingdom