4 British conservative leaders who were unseated by their party

British Conservatives believe in the following things: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should remain as part of the United Kingdom. Marriage should be encouraged through the tax system. Free markets and education should create an opportunity society.

Conservatives widely seek to preserve a range of institutions such as organized religion, parliamentary government, and property rights. Conservatives also tend to favor institutions and practices that guarantee stability and evolved gradually.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is the latest Conservative leader has tasted the wrath of his party, following a string of resignations from his scandal-plagued government.

The relentless stream of resignations was dramatically ignited by Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid. The two high-profile ministers quit within minutes of each on Tuesday, July 05, evening following a dispute over Johnson’s decision to appoint Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip earlier this year.

Pincher resigned and was suspended as a Conservative Party MP last week, following accusations that he drunkenly groped two men at a private members’ club. It has since emerged that Johnson appointed him to the role despite knowing of previous misconduct allegations against him.

Johnson apologised for appointing Pincher as deputy chief whip. He has since repeatedly rejected calls to resign, claiming he had a “colossal mandate” to keep going. By Thursday, July 07, 2022, however, Johnson bowed to the political pressure over his future and announced he would step down.

Here are three more leaders who were previously ousted by their fellow Tories:

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher Pulse Nigeria

Britain’s longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century tearfully stepped down in November 1990 after a cabinet revolt.

She had vowed to fight on after narrowly winning the first round of a leadership ballot, but then accepted that her position had become untenable.

Although she had won a third term by a landslide in 1987, her introduction of a universal “poll tax” payable by every adult regardless of income was met with violent opposition.

She also faced deep opposition within her cabinet for staunchly fighting having closer ties with Europe.

Her once close ally Geoffrey Howe resigned from the cabinet and launched a scathing attack on her Europe policy in parliament.

That precipitated the leadership challenge by former defence and environment minister Michael Heseltine, before John Major emerged as the new prime minister in a vote among Tory MPs.

Iain Duncan Smith

Iain Duncan Smith Pulse Nigeria

Duncan Smith, one of a cabal of right-wing eurosceptics dubbed “bastards” by Major, won the Conservative leadership in 2001, replacing William Hague after the party suffered another election defeat to Labour.

His surprise ascent was helped by Thatcher and her loyalists in parliament.

But the self-styled “quiet man” of UK politics struggled to hold his own against Labour’s charismatic prime minister, Tony Blair.

By October 2003, the parliamentary party was despairing of Duncan Smith’s inability to make any headway against Blair, despite huge public opposition to Britain’s involvement in the war in Iraq.

He lost a confidence vote, becoming the first Tory leader not to fight a general election since Neville Chamberlain, who was accused of appeasing Adolf Hitler in the late 1930s.

Theresa May

Theresa May Pulse Nigeria

Former interior minister Theresa May came to power in July 2016 after Britain’s shock referendum vote to leave the European Union, which prompted then prime minister David Cameron to resign.

She immediately found herself in charge of negotiating Britain’s exit terms, but her attempts to negotiate a “soft” Brexit were shot down by hardline Brexiteers within the Conservative party.

May called a snap general election in June 2017 in the hope of strengthening her position against the Brexit rebels and Labour.

It proved a disastrous bet, with Labour under its far-left leader Jeremy Corbyn making strong inroads and forcing her to turn to hardline, pro-UK unionists in Northern Ireland for parliamentary backing.

She survived a confidence vote called by Conservative rebels in December 2018.

But after her Brexit deal was rejected in the House of Commons for a fourth time, including by dozens of Conservative rebels, her leadership was mortally weakened.

She announced in May 2019 that she was stepping down, triggering the leadership race that brought Johnson to power two months later.