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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was clinging to power Tuesday after two of his most senior Cabinet ministers quit, saying they had lost confidence in Johnson’s leadership amid shifting explanations about his handling of a sexual misconduct scandal, Associated Press reported.

Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid resigned within minutes of each other, costing Johnson the support of the men responsible for tackling two of the biggest issues facing Britain — the cost-of-living crisis and surging COVID-19 infections.

Both cited Johnson’s credibility after a day in which the prime minister was forced to backtrack on earlier statements about the scandal that has rattled his government for the past six days.

The debacle is only the latest to hit Johnson, who last month narrowly survived a vote of no confidence triggered by similarly shifting stories about lockdown-breaking parties in government offices.

In his letter of resignation, Javid said the confidence vote showed a large number of Conservative Party lawmakers had lost trust in Johnson.

“It was a moment for humility, grip and a new direction,” Javid said. “I regret to say, however, that it is clear this situation will not change under your leadership — and you have therefore lost my confidence too.”

A few minutes later, Sunak echoed those sentiments.

“The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously,” Sunak said. “I realize that this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.”

Both Sunak and Javid are seen as possible contenders to replace Johnson if he is forced out.

While the resignations heaped pressure on the prime minister, Johnson has in the past proven to be an adept politician, fighting off criticism to prolong his career, according to Associated Press.

Johnson quickly named two loyalists to the positions: Steve Barclay got Javid’s old job, while Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi replaces Sunak as Treasury chief, Downing Street said.

At the same time, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss swiftly threw her support behind Johnson. Other Cabinet members, including Culture Secretary Nadine Dories, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel, were also in his corner.

But Scott Lucas, an emeritus professor at the University of Birmingham and a longtime political observer, said it would be difficult for Johnson to ultimately survive the departure of two such senior members of his Cabinet. 

“He’s not going to go without a fight,” Lucas said. “I just don’t know how many people are left to fight alongside him.”

The latest scandal began Thursday, when Chris Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip amid complaints that he groped two men at a private club. That triggered a series of reports about past allegations leveled against Pincher and questions about why Johnson promoted him to a senior job enforcing party discipline. 

Pincher denies the allegations.

Johnson’s office initially said he wasn’t aware of the previous accusations when he promoted Pincher in February. By Monday, a spokesman said Johnson knew of allegations that were “either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint.”

That account didn’t sit well with Simon McDonald, the most senior civil servant at the U.K. Foreign Office from 2015 to 2020. In a highly unusual move, McDonald went public with claims that the prime minister’s office wasn’t telling the truth.

McDonald said in a letter to the parliamentary commissioner for standards that he received complaints about Pincher’s behavior in the summer of 2019, shortly after Pincher became a Foreign Office minister. An investigation upheld the complaint, and Pincher apologized for his actions, McDonald said, Associated Press reported.

“Mr. Johnson was briefed in person about the initiation and outcome of the investigation,” McDonald wrote.

Hours after McDonald’s comments were published, Johnson’s office changed its story again, saying the prime minister had forgotten that Pincher was the subject of an official complaint.

Then minutes before Javid and Sunak announced their resignations, Johnson told reporters that Pincher should have been fired from the government after a previous 2019 incident.

Asked if it was an error to appoint Pincher to the government, Johnson said, “I think it was a mistake, and I apologize for it. In hindsight it was the wrong thing to do.”

The shifting explanation from Johnson fueled discontent within the Cabinet after ministers were forced to publicly deliver the prime minister’s denials, only to have the explanation shift the next day.

Johnson’s authority had already been shaken by last month’s confidence vote. Although he survived, 41% of Conservatives voted to remove him from office. But until Tuesday his Cabinet had largely stayed put and loyal.

Concerns about Johnson’s leadership were fueled by his responses to months of allegations about lockdown-breaking parties in government offices that ultimately resulted in 126 fines, including one levied against Johnson, according to Associated Press.

Two weeks later, Conservative candidates were badly beaten in two special elections to fill vacant seats in Parliament, adding to the discontent within Johnson’s party and suggesting the ongoing accusations were finding a toehold with the public. 

When Pincher resigned last week as deputy chief whip he told Johnson that he “drank far too much” the previous night and had “embarrassed myself and other people.”

Johnson initially refused to suspend Pincher from the Conservative Party, but he relented after a formal complaint about the groping allegations was filed with parliamentary authorities.

Ministers representing the Nepali Congress in the government have demanded resignation of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma.

During a Cabinet meeting held at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Tuesday, the ministers urged Finance Minister Sharma to resign from his post.

Sharma is accused of inviting two unauthorized persons to change tax rates on the eve of the budget presentation for the next fiscal year 2022-23.

The ministers said that the Finance Minister should resign on moral grounds as questions have been raised against him in public quarters.

A Central Committee meeting of the CPN (Maoist Centre) has been postponed.

The meeting called for 11 am at Pragya Bhawan in Kamaladi has been postponed till tomorrow, party spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara said.

He said that the meeting will be held at 1 pm tomorrow.

The reason for the postponement has not been disclosed.

Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal presented the agenda and political report in the meeting that started on Sunday.

On Monday, province in-charges floated their opinion on the party's latest situation.

During the meeting held on Monday, leaders suggested Dahal forge an electoral alliance with the CPN-UML saying that the party is getting weak.

Chairman Dahal was scheduled to answer the questions raised in the meeting today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his defence minister to continue the offensive in Ukraine after Russia captured the city of Lysychansk, BBC reported.

Mr Putin was shown on Russian TV calling on forces on other fronts to pursue their aims according to "previously approved plans".

The capture means that all of Luhansk region is now in Russian hands.

Earlier the region's Ukrainian governor said the city was abandoned so Russians would not destroy it from a distance.

Soldiers have now moved to new fortified positions, Serhiy Haidai told the BBC.

Losing the city and ceding control of Luhansk to Russia was painful, he said, but added: "This is just one battle we have lost, but not the war."

He pleaded for more weapons from the West to offset the Russian advantage.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged that Ukrainian forces will return to retake Lysychansk "thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons".

Russia has now stepped up its bombardment of cities in the neighbouring Donetsk region, with the areas around Sloviansk and the road between Lysychansk and Bakhmut in particular being targeted, according to Ukrainian forces.

Together the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk form the industrial Donbas area.

Mr Putin was seen telling Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu that troops who took part in the campaign to capture Luhansk should "rest and develop their combat capabilities".

"Other military units, including the East group and the West group, must carry out their tasks according to previously approved plans," he said, expressing the hope that on those fronts they would have similar success to that in Luhansk region, according to BBC.

Just before he launched the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Mr Putin recognised all of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states. Russian proxy forces began an insurgency there in 2014 - the year Russia also annexed the Crimean peninsula.

Just over a week ago, Russian troops captured Severodonetsk - which Russian bombardment has reduced to ruins.