Partygate, Johnson announces his resignation as MP

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced his resignation as an MP, after receiving the report of the parliamentary committee that investigated that he lied to Parliament about parties organized in Downing Street, in violation of anti-covid rules. Johnson, 58, said he would step down effective immediately. This means that a by-election will be needed for him.

"I didn't lie, and I believe that in their hearts the commission knows it" reads a note released after the announcement of his resignation and reported by the British media. "They know perfectly well that when I spoke to the Commons I was saying what I sincerely believed to be true and what I had been instructed to say, like any other minister." Johnson then adds that he corrected the shot immediately, which the members of the commission "know". And he underlines that the commission is determined "to push me out of parliament. They have not yet produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly deceived the Commons".

For Johnson, the Privileges Committee's decision against him sets a "dangerous and disturbing precedent". "I am now being forced out of Parliament by a handful of people, with no evidence to back up their claims, and without the approval of even members of the Conservative Party, let alone the wider electorate."