Topline
Boris Johnson had his parliamentary pass revoked by the U.K. Parliament in an overwhelming vote late Monday night as punishment for the “partygate” scandal, delivering an embarrassing blow to the former prime minister’s political career and the governing Conservative Party, which is down in the polls.
FILE – A protester holds a sign showing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he stands in front … [+]
Key Facts
Monday evening, the Parliament voted 354-7 after five hours of debate to accept a report finding Johnson lied to the body about partygate and revoke Johnson’s parliamentary pass, which allows current and former MPs to access parliamentary buildings.
Last week, the U.K. Privileges Committee released a scathing report that concluded that while he was still prime minister, Johnson lied to Parliament about a series of parties he attended in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic that violated the country’s virus mitigation laws.
Ahead of the release of that report, which recommended revoking his parliamentary pass and a 90-day suspension from Parliament, Johnson resigned as an MP on June 9, avoiding being forced out of his seat.
Many members of the Conservative Party declined to attend the debate and vote, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has taken on the country’s top job–after a brief stint with Liz Truss as Prime Minister–since Johnson resigned amid growing pressure in July 2022.
News Peg
The development is the latest in an embarrassing saga for Johnson, who has signaled he might like to return to the prime ministership. In October, he boasted that he believes there’s “a very good chance that I would be successful in the (2024) election with Conservative Party members—and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street,” but said at the time he wouldn’t run. Even in his resignation letter from parliament, Johnson wrote: “It is very sad to be leaving parliament – at least for now.” In order to return to the prime minister post, Johnson would have to reclaim a seat in parliament, but the public rebuke makes doing so more unlikely. The saga is also troublesome for the Conservative Party, of which Johnson is the former leader. While the party holds a majority and won’t be required to stage an election until January 2025, it is down in the polls. An aggregation of polls by Politico Europe found that 44% of respondents intend to vote for the Labor Party as opposed to 28% that intend to vote for the Conservatives.
Chief Critics
The five hours of debate that preceded the vote saw Johnson’s opponents lambast him relentlessly, including Martin Docherty-Hughes, a Scottish National Party politician, who said “how ridiculous that communities like mine had to suffer the indignity of that buffoon sitting in Downing Street while their families were dying.”
Surprising Fact
Parliament’s reprimand of Johnson comes on the former prime minister’s birthday. Johnson turned 59 on Monday.
Further Reading
Boris Johnson Resigns From Parliament After Allegedly Misleading MPs (Forbes)
Boris Johnson Deliberately Misled U.K. Parliament Over Covid Lockdown Parties, Investigation Finds (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/06/19/parliament-strips-boris-johnsons-access-to-its-buildings-latest-partygate-punishment/