Former British PM Boris Johnson is standing down from parliament
LONDON-Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is stepping down as a member of parliament with immediate effect, triggering a by- election in his marginal seat.
Johnson had been fighting for his political future with a parliamentary inquiry investigating whether he misled the House of Commons when he said all Covid-19 rules were followed.
Parliament’s privileges committee had the power to recommend that Johnson be suspended from parliament for more than 10 days if they were to find he did mislead parliament recklessly or deliberately, potentially triggering an election for his seat.
“I am being forced out by a tiny handful of people, with no evidence to back up their assertions, and without approval even of Conservative party members let alone the wider electorate,” Johnson said in a statement.
“It is very sad to be leaving parliament – at least for now – but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out.”
“Most members of the committee – especially the chair – had already expressed deeply prejudicial remarks about my guilt before they had even seen the evidence,” he said.
“In retrospect it was naive and trusting of me to think that these proceedings could be remotely useful or fair.”
Johnson also used his resignation statement to deliver an attack on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s premiership.
“When I left office last year the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls. That gap has now massively widened,” he said.
“Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do.”–Reuters
