LONDON • Britain's Constitution offers no clear answer to the question now on many Britons' minds: what happens if Prime Minister Boris Johnson, undergoing tests in hospital after persistent symptoms of the coronavirus, cannot continue to lead? Mr Johnson was admitted to hospital on Sunday in what his office said was a "precautionary step" after testing positive 10 days earlier and continuing to suffer from a high temperature. He remains in charge of the government, his office said.
Mr Johnson said yesterday he was undergoing routine tests for coronavirus symptoms but was in good spirits and in touch with his team. He had earlier said he can keep working from self-isolation in his Downing Street residence, just as his Health Secretary, Mr Matt Hancock, who also tested positive for the virus, has done.
But the fact that two such crucial leaders in Britain's fight against the pandemic have contracted the disease has raised questions about how the government would function without them at a time of global crisis. Nor is there any guidance for such circumstances in the Cabinet Manual, which sets out the rules and conventions for the running of government, and there is little precedent.
The Constitution - an unwieldy collection of sometimes ancient and contradictory precedents - offers no clear, formal Plan B or succession scenario, experts said.
"We've not been in that kind of situation, we've not had to think about it from that point of view before," said Dr Catherine Haddon, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government.
Unlike the United States, where the vice-president steps up if the president dies or becomes incapacitated, Britain has no formal deputy or caretaker prime minister.
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Downing Street has already said, however, that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab would deputise if necessary. When asked about who would stand in for Mr Johnson, his spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has the power to delegate responsibility to any of his ministers, but for now it is the Prime Minister and then the Foreign Secretary."
REUTERS
