Another day, another disaster for Boris Johnson. Senior Conservative party lawmaker Chris Pincher resigned Thursday after allegedly getting drunk and groping two men at a private members club in London. “Last night I drank far too much,” Pincher wrote to Johnson in his resignation letter. “I’ve embarrassed myself and other people which is the last thing I want to do and for that I apologise to you and to those concerned.” Pincher relinquished his job as Tory deputy chief whip—a figure responsible for party discipline—but is astonishingly set to stay on as a lawmaker, despite howls of protest from the opposition. This is actually the second time Pincher has resigned from the whips’ office; in 2017, he stood down after being accused of making unwanted advances towards a former Olympic rower. News of Pincher’s resignation comes after the Tory chairman resigned last week in the wake of a humiliating double-election defeat for Johnson’s party.
NEW: Tory deputy chief whip Chris Pincher has quit after drunken behaviour last night - but won’t lose the party whip “because he has done the right thing, admitted wrongdoing and fallen on his sword” - scoop by @hoffman_noapic.twitter.com/jyP6mFYcIr