Boris Johnson Misled Parliament Over Partygate, Panel Confirms

Kitty Donaldson, Joe Mayes and Emily Ashton
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed a “serious contempt” of Parliament, according to a long-awaited probe that found he repeatedly misled lawmakers over rule-breaking parties at his Downing Street office during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

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“We came to the view that some of Mr. Johnson’s denials and explanations were so disingenuous that they were by their very nature deliberate attempts to mislead the committee and the House,” the seven-strong, majority-Conservative Privileges Committee wrote in its report on the former premier’s representations to the House of Commons over the so-called “partygate” scandal. “He has committed a serious contempt of the House.”

Johnson had repeatedly assured the Commons that no rules were broken, but later apologized to the chamber after he and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were both fined following a police probe into a series of booze-ridden gatherings in Downing Street during successive coronavirus lockdowns. In all, police issued 126 fines to 83 people for attending rule-breaking gatherings in government buildings.

Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt told the chamber on Thursday that Members of Parliament will be able to amend and vote on a motion concerning the report on Monday. She didn’t elaborate on the wording.

A big question for Sunak is how he frames that motion: whether MPs will be asked to endorse the report’s findings, or merely acknowledge that it has been published. If the former, a full-throated endorsement of its findings by lawmakers would likely damage Johnson and any hopes he may have of a political comeback.

The impact of the probe is somewhat diminished because Johnson — who was given advance sight of the investigation last week — had already said he was resigning his seat in the House of Commons in protest.

Lying or misleading Parliament carries strict penalties for rule-breakers, and the panel said that given Johnson had already quit his seat, the recommended punishment is for him to be stripped of his right to keep a pass to access Parliament. If he were still an MP, the panel said it would have recommended a suspension of 90 days — a penalty whose severity was due in part to the lengthy diatribe he issued against the committee on June 9.

When he resigned last week, Johnson dismissed the Privileges Committee as a “kangaroo court” and questioned the partiality of its chairwoman, Labour’s Harriet Harman. In reply the committee said that Johnson “impugned the integrity” of Parliament with his attack and that his behaviour aggravated the sanction he should receive.

On Thursday, the former premier issued another statement explaining why he still doesn’t think he broke the rules. “This report is a charade” and its conclusions are “deranged,” he said.

By quitting Johnson has triggered a challenging special election for Sunak in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, a seat which the ruling Conservative Party held in 2019 with a relatively slim majority of about 7,000. Conservative MPs expect the opposition Labour Party to take the seat. That’s unlikely to upset Johnson, who blames Sunak for the role he played in his own downfall last year.

The committee analyzed six gatherings in Number 10, which it said Johnson had “genuinely believed” were covered by work-related exemptions to Covid restrictions and were “essential” events.

“A workplace ‘thank you’, leaving drink, birthday celebration or motivational event is obviously neither essential or reasonably necessary,” the report said. “A reasonable person looking at the events and the rules would not have the belief that Mr Johnson has professed.”

--With assistance from Alex Wickham.

(Updates with Monday vote in fourth paragraph.)

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