Boris Johnson: ex-Prime Minister urges MP on Privileges Committee investigating Partygate row to resign

Boris Johnson has called on Sir Bernard Jenkin to resign from the committee investigating whether the ex-Prime Minister misled Parliament over the Partygate scandal - after claims the Conservative MP broke Covid restrictions himself by attending an indoor drinks party.

The Privileges Committee’s report is due to be released tomorrow morning following a short delay because of new ‘representations’ from Johnson, who resigned from Parliament last week in protest.

What is Jenkin alleged to have done?

According to the Guido Fawkes website which broke the story, Bernard Jenkin was present at a birthday party organised inside Parliament for his wife Anne in early December 2020. At the time, London was under Tier 2 Covid rules - with strict limits on the number of people from different households who could get together indoors.

Jenkin told the website he “did not attend any drinks parties during lockdown” but could not recall further details about the event in question. NationalWorld has not verified Guido Fawkes’ reporting.

The MP is one of seven making up the Privileges Committee, which is looking into claims Johnson lied to the House of Commons about his knowledge of lockdown-breaking gatherings at Downing Street. The ex-PM, his wife Carrie Johnson and the then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak were all fined for taking part in such gatherings.

What has Johnson said?

In response to the Guido Fawkes story, Johnson said in a statement: “Bernard Jenkin has just voted to expel me from parliament for allegedly trying to conceal from parliament my knowledge of illicit events. In reality, of course, I did no such thing”.

“Now it turns out he may have for the whole time known that he himself attended an event – and concealed this from the Privileges Committee and the whole House for the last year. He has no choice but to explain his actions to his own committee, for his colleagues to investigate and then to resign”.

How have others reacted?

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said Johnson’s intervention was a “typical distraction tactic...that doesn’t change the fact he broke the law and lied about it”.

“The Conservative Party is now in a full blown civil war. This whole unedifying spectacle needs to brought to an end as soon as possible”.

When is the report due and what will it say?

The report - estimated to be some 30,000 words long - is expected to be published tomorrow morning. It’s understood a preliminary copy given to Johnson last week (so he’d have a chance to respond before publication) recommended he should be suspended from the Commons for 10 days. This would have paved the way for a by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.

In response, Johnson called the committee a “kangeroo court” and suggested it was trying to drive him “out of Parliament” partly in revenge for delivering Brexit. As a result, he said he would step down as an MP with immediate effect.

Johnson went on: “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”.

How did the Privileges Committee respond?

In a short statement, the committee rejected any allegations of bias. It intended to finalise its conclusions on Monday (12 June) but delayed publication when it received a “letter enclosing further representations from Mr Johnson”.

A spokesman said: “The committee is dealing with these and will report promptly”.