Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned as a Member of the British Parliament with immediate effect, which leads to some by-elections in his seat within the Conservative Party. Johnson has been fighting over his political future with a parliamentary inquiry into whether he misled the House of Commons when he said all the anti-Covid rules had been followed.
“It is very sad to leave Parliament, at least for now,” Johnson said in a statement. “I’m being forced to leave by a small handful of people, with no evidence to back up their claims, and without the approval of even Conservative Party members, let alone the general electorate.”
Boris Johnson awarded his aides and political allies some of Britain’s highest honors on the occasion of his resignation as Prime Minister, including some that attended parties in government buildings during the national covid lockdown.
[Boris Johnson: los escándalos que marcaron la carrera del ex primer ministro británico]
[Nuevo revés para Boris Johnson: encuentran pruebas de que recibió visitas en el confinamiento]
He Committee of Privileges Parliament could have recommended that Johnson be suspended from duty for more than 10 days if it concluded that he had recklessly or deliberately misled Parliament, potentially triggering the election of his seat.
The former prime minister said he had received a letter from the “Privilege Committee making it clear – to my astonishment – that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to throw me out of Parliament.”
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, this March.
Johnson, whose term as prime minister was cut short in part by anger within his own party and across Britain over the parties during confinement at his Downing Street office and residence, which broke covid rules, accused the committee of acting like “the very definition of a kangaroo court“.
“Most of the Committee members—especially the Chairman—had already expressed deeply biased remarks about my guilt before I had even seen the evidence,” he said. “In retrospect, it was naive and trusting of me to think that these proceedings could be remotely helpful or fair.”
