On Monday, June 19, the UK parliament voted to accept a report indicating that former prime minister Boris Johnson had lied about "partygate" or rule-breaking parties during the COVID pandemic, dealing a further setback to Johnson's political career.
Boris Johnson Resigns From Parliament
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that Johnson resigned from parliament unexpectedly. This was after reviewing the results of a yearlong inquiry into his behavior during the COVID-19 outbreak when lockdown-breaking parties were conducted in Downing Street.
When Johnson informed his House of Commons colleagues that all COVID-19 guidelines had been observed at all times in government facilities, the committee concluded that he had misled them. Their report was released last week.
If Johnson had not already resigned, the report would have called for him to be suspended from the House of Commons for 90 days and denied him a pass that would have given him automatic access to parliament.
House of Commons Votes on Boris Johnson's Partygate Report
After Monday's five-hour discussion on the committee's conclusions, the House of Commons voted 354 to 7 to approve the report, according to Reuters' report.
Parliament's endorsement of the report's findings may be a humiliating consequence for a leader who was still prime minister less than a year ago, but it does not prevent Johnson from running again for the House of Commons.
On Monday, the majority of lawmakers who spoke in parliament were unfavorable of Johnson's actions, while a small group of his supporters cast doubt on the committee's objectivity.
Theresa May, the former prime minister, urged Johnson's supporters not to vote against the committee's recommendation because doing so would damage public confidence in the democratic process.
Yet, it was "perfectly reasonable," according to Johnson's minister Jacob Rees Mogg, to question the committee's findings. He also implied that those looking into the former prime minister "wanted to come to a particular conclusion."
Johnson, who served as prime minister of the UK from the middle of 2019 until September 2022, was widely regarded as one of the country's most divisive leaders in recent times.
Polls show that Johnson is unpopular with the general public, although he continues to have the support of some inside the Conservative Party.
To avoid further escalating tensions with party members loyal to the previous prime minister, senior lawmakers in the ruling Conservative Party, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and many members of the cabinet, did not participate in the discussion or vote on Monday.
Additionally, Sunak missed the Monday voting in parliament to meet with the Swedish prime minister and other officials, as his spokesperson said.
According to Reuters, Johnson has called the committee a "kangaroo court," and he claims the report is "intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination."
