Controversial former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced he is stepping down as a Member of Parliament with immediate effect.
He made the stunning announcement after receiving the findings of an investigation into whether he knowingly misled parliament over the so-called Partygate scandal, in which he and his staff were accused of wantonly breaking social distancing rules during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Privileges Committee of the House of Commons is reported to have found him guilty and recommended he be suspended for more than 10 days.
Johnson suggested he was being hounded out of parliament in his bombshell resignation letter on Friday evening.
“I have received a letter from the Privileges Committee making it clear – much to my amazement – that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament,” he wrote.
“They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons… Their purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts. This is the very definition of a kangaroo court.
Johnson said he had no choice but to resign.
“I have today written to my Association in Uxbridge and South Ruislip to say that I am stepping down forthwith and triggering an immediate by-election,” he said.
Johnson had been an MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip from May 2015 to June 2023. Prior to that, he was MP for Henley from June 2001 to June 2008.
