Facing Heat Over ‘Partygate’ Scandal, Boris Johnson Formally Resigns as Conservative MP

Boris Johnson officially resigned as deputy governor on Monday. Sky News Sources reported.

His resignation comes as a British parliamentary committee meets on Monday to finish its investigation into whether Johnson misled lawmakers about which parties in his Downing Street office breached Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Members of Parliament’s Privileges Committee have vowed to continue investigating Johnson’s behavior after he unexpectedly quit as an MP on Friday and angrily accused political opponents of ousting him on a “witch-hunt”. The committee is expected to finalize its highly anticipated report on Monday. British media reported that the results could be published in the coming days.

Before the results were announced, Johnson, 58, said the Privileges Committee had told him he would be penalized for misleading Parliament about his “gate party,” a series of wild parties and rallies in his office that breached his government’s tough pandemic restrictions on the country.

He accused the seven-member panel, which includes members from both the Conservative and opposition parties, of bias and called it a “kangaroo court”. In response, the committee said Johnson had “impugned the integrity” of Parliament with his attack.

Johnson’s successor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, backed the parliamentary committee on Monday. “This is a properly constituted committee that was voted on by the House of Commons to carry out its work,” Sunak spokesman Max Blaine said.

“The government will not in any way criticize or criticize the work of the committee which is doing exactly what Parliament has asked it to do.” The committee could have suspended Johnson from the House of Commons if it was found that he had knowingly lied.

While Johnson has resigned from Parliament and will no longer be affected by any decision to suspend him, the committee can choose to apply other penalties such as banning him from entering Parliament’s grounds.

The revelation that Johnson and his staff held office parties, birthday celebrations and “wine time Fridays” in 2020 and 2021, at a time when millions were banned from seeing loved ones or even attending family funerals, outraged many Britons and added to a series of morality scandals. that led to his downfall.

Johnson resigned as prime minister last summer after an exodus of government officials protesting his leadership.

Police fined him and other senior officials for violating lockdown rules, but Johnson insisted to lawmakers he had not intentionally misled Parliament about the rallies.

He told the committee that he “sincerely believed” the five events he attended, including an employee farewell and surprise birthday party, were “legitimate work gatherings” intended to boost morale among exhausted employees dealing with a deadly pandemic.

Johnson’s abrupt resignation reopened bitter divisions within the ruling Conservative Party, which has seen waning support over its 13 years in power and now holds regular elections behind the opposition Labor Party.

(with AP input)