British celebrities took to social media on Thursday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he’s stepping down.
Outspoken journalist, Piers Morgan didn’t mince words on his reaction to the resignation. “Boris Johnson quits as he led – boasting, blathering & blaming everyone but himself. What a terrible final speech by a man who turned out to be a truly terrible Prime Minister,” he tweeted.
“He just couldn’t do the decent thing and step aside at once. He doubtless pictures himself as an unleashed buccaneering, cavalier swashbuckler rather than the rogue elephant he is, trampling down what’s left of our democracy,” tweeted actor Stephen Fry. “Oh and oy and oomph, such days.”
When it came to Johnson’s resignation speech, stand-up comedian Nish Kumar wasn’t impressed. “What a sh— speech,” he said.
Meanwhile recording artist Beverley Knight tweeted, “Just head Boris’s speech. Just shameless. No contrition. Not even a mention of why we the nation are in the mess we find ourselves. Those of you who voted for him, come get your boy.”
Actor Matt Lucas, who often impersonated the disgraced PM, announced he’s leaving that schtick behind. “I resign as Boris’s impersonator,” he said.
“If I join the conservatives today – Become an MP by Monday- Can I run in the leadership contest by Friday? (All whilst singing Craig David 7 days),” joked “Celebrity Big Brother” star Rylan Clark.
Johnson resigned immediately as leader of his Conservative Party but plans to remain as prime minister while the leadership contest is held. He said he has appointed a new Cabinet following a multitude of resignations, but many are calling for him to go now.
It is a humiliating defeat for Johnson, who succeeded in leading Britain out of the European Union and was credited with rolling out one of the world’s most successful mass vaccination campaigns to combat COVID-19.
The announcement came after the latest ethics scandal around Johnson’s leadership led some 50 senior lawmakers to quit the government and left him unable to govern.
Speaking outside No. 10 Downing St., Johnson said he was “immensely proud of the achievements of this government,” from Brexit to steering the country through the pandemic, and leading the West in standing up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But he acknowledged that “in politics, no one is remotely indispensable.”