Please Enjoy The BBC’s Memorial Video To Resigned UK MPs Soundtracked By ‘Bittersweet Symphony’
Boris Johnson resigned as leader of the Conservative Party after the mass exodus.
The BBC has aired a rolling list of ministerial resignations soundtracked to a sombre cover of ‘Bittersweet Symphony’.
Thursday’s broadcast of news and current affairs show Newsnight dedicated time to the biggest story of the week in the UK — the pressure on Boris Johnson to step down as Prime Minister, which he eventually caved to after much resistance later in the day.
In the lead-up to his tumultuous resignation as party leader, more than 50 figures within the government and Conservative Party vacated their roles to protest Johnson’s stubbornness after continued loss of faith in his leadership.
Newsnight dialled up the dramatics in their coverage of the mass exodus, with a rolling ‘In Memoriam’ style list naming all the departed politicians — including the Health Secretary, Chancellor, and ministers for education, health, and home office — to the beat of a minor key rendition of The Verve’s 1997 hit.
In case you missed it, #Newsnight replaced its end credits tonight with a list of all the ministerial resignations so far set to an acoustic version of Bittersweet Symphony pic.twitter.com/VPztjMc6OE
— Tom Hourigan (@TomHourigan) July 6, 2022
Johnson kept afloat during a vote of no confidence in June over his handling and participation in Partygate — where he was seen celebrating with colleagues during a leaving party at Downing Street in the middle of a strict COVID-19 lockdown in late 2020, causing widespread outrage over the double standard.
It was chased by his handling of a second scandal, where suspended Tory MP Chris Pincher was accused of groping two men at a private members’ club. Johnson was slammed for his response to the allegations, including appointing Pincher as Deputy Chief Whip after the complaints came to light, as well as reportedly saying “all the sex pests are supporting me” and “Pincher by name, pincher by nature”.
“The reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019,” said Johnson in his resignation speech outside official residence Number 10.
He will stay on as PM until a successor is selected, however, Theresa May — who was in a similar predicament back in 2019 — held the fort down for another two months after she stepped down, according to the Washington Post.