The exodus from No. 10 continued on Friday as Elena Narozanski, a special adviser to Johnson on women and equalities extremism, became the latest aide to leave her position. Her resignation came a day after the departure of four other senior aides.
A Cambridge graduate, Ms Narozanski previously worked as a special adviser to Michael Gove when he was Secretary of State for Education between 2010 to February 2011. She is credited with working on Boris Johnson’s 2019 electoral campaign policies. Former No 10 aide Nikki da Costa described Ms Narozanski as “Another big loss to the policy unit”.
Five resignations in 24 hours have piled pressure on the PM who is also facing fresh calls to quit from Conservative backbenchers. Former minister Nick Gibb reportedly submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister on Friday. He said that his constituents were furious that No. 10 had been “flagrantly disregarding” the Covid rules they set.
The difficult week for the PM included the resignation policy chief Munira Mirza, who quit over the PM’s false claim that Labour leader Sir Keir failed to prosecute Savile when he was director of public prosecutions. Leaking her own resignation letter, Ms Mirza described the comments about Savile as “scurrilous” and “inappropriate and partisan”.
In the lead up to Ms Mirza’s resignation, Johnson attempted to “clarify” his remarks after, but he did not offer an apology to Starmer – as Ms Mirza had recommenced. Ms Mirza had previously worked for the PM during his time as London Mayor in a professional relationship that spanned over 14 years.
After Ms Mirza’s departure, chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, principal private secretary Martin Reynolds and director of communications Jack Doyle followed her out of the door on Thursday. However, unlike Ms Mirza, the three men were themselves embroiled in the “partygate” scandal. Mr Reynolds was responsible for the email encouraging Downing Street staffers to “BYOB” (“Bring Your Own Booze”) to the party held on May 20, 2020.
Johnson allies have said that the string of departures are the PM “taking charge” as he prepares to face a potential leadership challenge. Energy minister Greg Hands suggested their departures were part of a clear-out following civil servant Sue Gray’s inquiry into the allegations. After the release of a partial version of Sue Gray’s report, the PM promised a shakeup of his No. 10 operation.
Mr Johnson reportedly addressed Downing Street staff in the Cabinet Room on Friday and told them “change is good”, using a line from the Disney film “The Lion King”.
A difficult week was made no easier by chancellor Rishi Sunak who publicly distanced himself from the PM’s comments on Starmer and Saville. He said: “Being honest, I wouldn’t have said it”. And asked if Mr Johnson should apologise, he said: “That’s for the prime minister to decide”.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror is reporting that a photo of Mr Johnson holding a beer at a birthday gathering has been handed to police investigating Covid breaches. The picture, reportedly taken in June 2020, is one of 300 submitted to the Metropolitan police as part of their ongoing investigation into “Partygate”.
