Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over Partygate, MPs find

Boris Johnson would have faced a 90-day suspension if he was still an MP, after an inquiry found he deliberately misled Parliament over lockdown parties.

In a damning report, MPs said the former PM had committed repeated offences with his Partygate denials.

The privileges committee’s suspension would have triggered a recall petition and possible by-election, had Mr Johnson not quit as an MP.

He dramatically stood down last week after seeing the committee’s findings.

Mr Johnson – who helped the Conservative Party win a landslide election victory under his leadership only three years ago – is the first former prime minister to have been found to have deliberately misled Parliament.

In a blistering statement attacking the committee, Mr Johnson said its members had reached a “deranged conclusion” that was “contradicted by the facts”.

He branded the committee, led by veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman, a “kangaroo court” and claimed its year-long inquiry had delivered “what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination”.

The seven-person committee, four of whom are Conservative MPs, has been considering whether Mr Johnson misled MPs about Covid-19 breaches in Downing Street and other government buildings during the pandemic.

When giving evidence to the committee in March, Mr Johnson staunchly denied misleading Parliament on purpose, in a stormy session.

But in its lengthy report, which runs to 106 pages, the committee concluded that Mr Johnson’s “personal knowledge of breaches”, combined with “his repeated failures pro-actively to investigate” them, amounted to “a deliberate closing of his mind” to the facts.

The committee concluded that officials did not advise Mr Johnson that social-distancing guidelines had been followed at all times, despite him repeatedly making the claim in the House of Commons.

In key evidence, one of Mr Johnson’s most senior officials, Martin Reynolds, said he advised the former prime minister against making the claim, questioning “whether it was realistic to argue that all guidance had been followed at all times”.

“Someone who is repeatedly reckless and continues to deny that which is patent is a person whose conduct is sufficient to demonstrate intent,” the committee said.

The committee’s report said “some of Mr Johnson’s denials and explanations were so disingenuous that they were by their very nature deliberate attempts to mislead” MPs.

Mr Johnson was also found to have breached confidentiality requirements when he criticised the committee’s findings in his fiery resignation statement last week.

“Mr Johnson’s conduct in making this statement is in itself a very serious contempt,” the report said.

The committee said the 90-day sanction was recommended because of repeated contempts, including:

The committee has also recommended that Mr Johnson should be stripped of the pass given to former MPs allowing them access to Parliament.

Two MPs on the committee wanted to go further and expel Mr Johnson from the Commons.

The SNP MP, Allan Dorans, proposed an amendment to the report, seeking a ban, but the four Conservative MPs on the committee voted against this.

The report’s finding are expected to be debated by MPs next week, with a vote held on whether to approve the report.