- By Michael Shiels McNamee
- BBC News
image source, Cabinet Office
Boris Johnson was fined for attending a birthday party in the Cabinet Room in 2020.
Boris Johnson resigns as Tory MP with immediate effect after receiving an advance copy of the Partygate report.
MP A report by the chaired Privileges Committee examined whether he misled Parliament over the deadlock-breaking parties in Downing Street.
The Privileges Committee said Mr Johnson had “strained the integrity” of the House of Commons.
The committee said it “at all times followed the procedures and mandate of the House” and would meet on Monday to issue its report immediately.
In a fiery resignation statement, the former prime minister said the process was “the definition of a kangaroo court”.
Mr Johnson received a copy on Thursday and said it was “riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice”.
He said social distancing was not “ideal” at Downing Street gatherings during the Covid lockdowns, but insisted that guidelines – as he understood them – must be followed at all times.
His lengthy statement went on to criticize the direction of the current Conservative government.
In it he said: I am not lying, I hope the committee knows in their hearts.
Mr Johnson condemned the panel, saying “from the outset, its aim was to find me guilty, regardless of the facts”.
He said he believed the “current Prime Minister and resident of the same building, Rishi Sunak” were “legally working together”.
image source, Good pictures
Mr Johnson says his sacking is a “necessary first step” in attempts by some to reverse the 2016 Brexit decision.
Sue Gray, a former senior civil servant who led the investigation into the Particate scandal, has come under fire from Mr Johnson, who said he no longer believed it was “a coincidence” that he would soon become “chief of staff”. Labor leader.
Mr Johnson’s statement said: “It is very sad to be leaving Parliament – at least for now – but above all I am appalled and appalled that I could be expelled by a committee so undemocratically led and managed. [Labour MP] Harriet Harman, with a very bad bias.”
He said his “removal” was a “necessary first step” by some who opposed him to “revenge Brexit and ultimately reverse the 2016 referendum result”.
His resignation will trigger a by-election in his constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Mr Johnson was Prime Minister from July 2019 to September 2022 and has been an MP since 2001, although not continuously – serving as Mayor of London between 2008 and 2016.
Labor deputy leader Angela Rayner condemned what she called “this endless Tory soap opera”.
For the Liberal Democrats, deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Good riddance.”
SNP deputy Westminster leader Mhairi Black said Mr Johnson had “jumped before he was pushed”, adding that “no one in Scotland will be sorry to see him”.
However, former home secretary Prithi Patel praised Mr Johnson for his work as prime minister on Ukraine and Brexit, describing him as “a political titan”.
Richard Mills, chairman of Boris Johnson’s local Conservative association, said the former prime minister had “delivered on his promises to local people”.
One of them, Sir Michael Fabricant, criticized the Privileges Committee for “disgraceful treatment” of the former prime minister.
