British Prime Minister Boris Johnson left his final showpiece parliamentary appearance on Wednesday evening, with applause from his own party and jeers from his opponents.
His last words were: “Mission largely accomplished… hasta la vista, baby.”
Johnson was forced to announce he was resigning earlier in July after there was a mass rebellion against him and his government, following a long list of scandals. His party, the Conservative party, also known as the Tories, decided the scandals had finally undermined his ability to lead the United Kingdom.
He lasted three turbulent years in the position.
Wednesday marked Johnson’s final “Prime Minister’s Question,” which is a weekly fixture of the political calendar where the prime minister is pitted against his opponents in a rowdy debate.
In this last one, Johnson attempted to shape his legacy around the Covid pandemic response, and his support of Ukraine in its defense against Russia.
“We’ve helped, I’ve helped, get this country through a pandemic and help save another country from barbarism. And frankly, that’s enough to be going on with. Mission largely accomplished,” Johnson said when concluding the session.
“I want to thank everybody here and hasta la vista, baby,” he said.
Who will replace Johnson and become Britain’s next prime minister is down to two final candidates, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
The Conservative Party leadership race was narrowed down to the final two candidates on Wednesday. Ten Conservatives stood originally in the contest to replace Johnson. After five rounds of voting, members of parliament whittled that down to two.
Now about 160,000 members of the Conservative party will have their say on who will become the next leader. In September, the winner will be announced.
Both Sunak and Truss served in Johnson’s government. But Sunak was one of the first big ministers to resign in what ended up being a mass exit, and bringing down Johnson. Meanwhile, Truss stood with Johnson.
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