“Conservatives at their best are seen as hard-headed decision makers guided by strong values,” Javid wrote in his resignation letter. “We may not always have been popular, but we have been competent in acting in the national interest. Sadly, in the current circumstances, the public are concluding that we are now neither.”

Sunak struck a similar tone, declaring that “the public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously” – implying that the current administration was none of the above.

The senior officials’ resignations came just hours after an admission from 10 Downing that Johnson had known of multiple complaints about the “predatory behavior” of MP Chris Pincher before appointing him deputy whip earlier this year. Pincher quit in disgrace last week after it emerged that he had drunkenly groped two men at a private members’ club.

The scandal is only the latest in a series of controversies circling Johnson’s government, the most prominent of which are the repeated violations by the PM and his administration of their own Covid-19 lockdown protocols.

The Conservative Party was trounced in by-elections last month, a resounding defeat that Johnson seemed unaware of when he made a comment about leading the UK into the 2030s that some party members initially assumed was a joke.

Sunak had served as chancellor of the Exchequer since 2020, when he replaced Javid in the role. Sunak was previously chief secretary to the Treasury and served as a Conservative MP since 2015. Before entering politics, he worked at a hedge fund following a stint with Goldman Sachs. Prior to his appointment as chancellor of the Exchequer, Javid was home secretary and had been a Conservative MP since 2010. Before entering politics, he was a banker with Deutsche Bank.

Sunak is one of Boris Johnson's ministers who found guilty for lying to the public and misleading the parliament.