'Hasta la vista, baby!' Johnson says goodbyes to parliament
3 Min Read
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson goes out of parliament with a blast, quoting the terminator during his final moments on the PMQs dispatch box.
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Boris Johnson speaks in the House of Commons, in London, England, on July 20, 2022
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, cheered on by his MPs that refused to vote him out of office just two days ago, bowed out of his final setpiece even in the British House of Commons on Wednesday by saying: "Hasta la vista, baby!"
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson left on Monday the House of Commons unscathed following a no-confidence vote that took place after he was ousted from his post as premier and leader of the Tory party in the United Kingdom.
The vote gave Johnson seven more weeks in Downing Street before his successor is elected, and confidence in him is rather high. Johnson received the support of 349 MPs while 238 voted against him, winning the no-confidence motion by an unexpected landslide in a majority of 111.
Johnson, just like the terminator he is quoting, fought until the very end, staunchly defending the disastrous three years he spent in office.
His term was distinguished by the number of scandals it saw, as well as crises such as Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. He was constantly mired in controversies and that saw him revealed as untruthful to the public and even his allies.
After spending some tie defending his tenure, he went on to praise the candidates going head to head while fending off opposition attacks at his last session of Prime Minister's Questions.
The House of Commons breaks for its summer recess on Thursday, and it is set to reconvene on September 5 and announce the new leader upon coming back.
Johnson's Downing Street operation is reportedly running an "anyone but Rishi" campaign, as the outgoing premier is accusing the former finance minister of being behind a cabinet revolt that posted Johnson earlier this month.
Johnson had survived a confidence vote among Conservative MPs by 211 to 148, but a scandal regarding his handling of sexual misconduct allegations against Tory MP Chris Pincher triggered domino-like resignations that culminated in the PM out of office.
"I'm not following this thing particularly closely," the prime minister said of the Tory race. He, however, praised Sunak's economic management during the pandemic, saying that any one of the three would "wipe the floor" with Labour like "some household detergent."
While former Chancellor Rishi Sunak only needs the support of one more MP to reach the 119 votes needed for the second round, the candidate who came in second place will be decided by only a handful of votes.
Trade Secretary Penny Mordaunt now has a tight 91-85 vote lead over Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the race to become the right-wing nominee.
The final two candidates are set to be chosen later Wednesday.
Johnson gave out some "handy" advice to the remaining contenders, telling them to " "stay close to the Americans, stick up for the Ukrainians, stick up for freedom and democracy everywhere."
"Cut taxes and deregulate where you can to make this the greatest place to live and invest... focus on the road ahead but always remember to check the rearview mirror," he added.
