Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation from Parliament on Friday evening in connection with a parliamentary inquiry into the “Party Gates” scandal, i.e. events organized by Downing Street Headquarters in violation of Covid-19-related health restrictions. . .
Johnson, 58, confirmed that his decision will take effect immediately, which means holding by-elections that will put more political pressure on current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
A year after being expelled from Downing Street at the hands of his majority, after three years in office that were marked by a series of scandals, Johnson remained under parliamentary scrutiny to determine whether he had misled Parliament in the Partygate case.
The action is being led by the Parliamentary Privileges Committee, which is in the process of closing down and has just presented its findings to the former leader, according to the British press.
clear bias
For his part, the former Conservative prime minister wrote in a statement that he was surprised to receive “a letter from the Privileges Committee clearly stating … that it is determined to take action against me to expel me from Parliament.”
“I am very sad to leave Parliament – at least for the moment – but most of all I am outraged that I was forced to leave in an undemocratic way,” he said, accusing the committee of “blatant bias.”
In a statement, he also accused the commission of issuing an unpublished report “full of inaccuracies and smacking of bias” without having “any formal opportunity to challenge what they are saying.”
Significantly, Johnson was forced to step down as prime minister last summer after a series of scandals, chief among which were parties on Downing Street during a period of sanitary restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.
