By Ben Kerrigan-
Boris Johnson has announced his decision to step down as an MP with immediate effect after receiving the Partygate report.
The report by the MP-led Privileges Committee examined whether the former tory British prime minister misled Parliament over lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street.
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Johnson, who has forever had this investigation lingering over his head, had gone out of his way to demonstrate transparency by fully co-operating with the investigation when he handed in requested WHATSAPP messages covering the period of interest, but the concluding outcome was far from favourable after a recommendation of a long suspension from Parliament was ordered.
His exit draws a line over a dramatic four years in his political career, one characterised with several survivals and come backs, but coming to a sharp conclusion over a pandemic he did not created, but whose rules his government established but did not abide by.
Johnson angrily accused the investigation of trying to drive him out, and claimed there was a “witch-hunt under way, to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result”.
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The aggrieved former tory leader claimed his “removal” was the “necessary first step” by some who oppose him, “to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result”.
Johnson accused his opponents of a “concerted attempt” to remove him from parliament. He said the privileges committee, led by Harman, had produced a report that was “riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice. but under their absurd and unjust process I have no formal ability to challenge anything they say”. He claimed that he “did not lie, and I believe that in their hearts the committee know it”.
He blamed a “misplaced” faith in the impartiality of systems that led him to commission a report into the furore by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant who was subsequently chosen by Keir Starmer to be his new chief of staff.
His resignation will trigger a by-election in his constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
In a bitter 1,000-word statement, he attacked Rishi Sunak’s government, blaming the current prime minister for rising taxes, not being Conservative enough and failing to make the most of Brexit.
Johnson indicated a potential return to politics, saying he was “very sad to be leaving parliament – at least for now”.
His resignation comes less than four years after he won an 80-seat political majority and nine months after he stood down as prime minister after a police fine for breaking his own Covid rules.
The former prime minister had attempted to have another bite at the prime ministerial cake following the outing of Liz Truss , who made history by being the prime minister for the shortest period in history.
He was scheduled to rival Rishi Sunak, but the prospect of this very outcome prevented him from contending at the time.
In his statement, Johnson hit out at political enemies for targeting him after he was shown the privileges committee findings against him earlier this week.
“It is very sad to be leaving parliament – at least for now – but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by [the Labour MP] Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias,” he said.
Mr Johnson accused the Commons inquiry of attempting to “drive me out”.
In a statement he said: “They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons.”
Earlier on Friday, he received a copy of the yet-to-be-published report, which he claimed was “riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice”.
In evidence given to the Privileges Committee in March, Mr Johnson admitted misleading Parliament, but denied doing it on purpose.
He said social distancing had not been “perfect” at gatherings in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns.
He added that they were “essential” work events, which he claimed were allowed.
Announcing he would step down, the former prime minister issued a lengthy statement on Friday evening in which he said: “I did not lie, and I believe that in their hearts the committee know it.”
“They know perfectly well that when I spoke in the Commons I was saying what I believed sincerely to be true and what I had been briefed to say, like any other minister,” he said.
Mr Johnson said he corrected the record as soon as possible, and claimed committee members “know that”.
He said the “current prime minister and then occupant of the same building, Rishi Sunak” also believed they were “working lawfully together”.
Kangaroo Court
He condemned the committee as a “kangaroo court”, and claimed that its “purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts”. Mr Johnson claims his removal is a “necessary first step” in attempts by some to reverse the 2016 Brexit result
Mr Johnson’s statement said: “It is very sad to be leaving Parliament – at least for now – but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by [Labour MP] Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias.”
Johnson himself caught covid at the beginning of the pandemic and was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, surviving it in the end.
But he was never to know that the same covid would kill his career, which could take miracles to revive it ever again.
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