Although the prime minister is set to leave No 10 in September, the Commons Privileges Committee is going ahead with its inquiry into whether Boris Johnson mislead MPs with his Commons statements on partygate earlier in the year.
In the Spring, the House of Commons passed a motion tabled by the Labour leader for the Commons Privileges Committee to look into the claims.
The forthcoming ‘partygate’ related investigation follows the one already held by the Met Police and the leading civil servant, Sue Gray.
One of Johnson’s most loyal supporters, Nadine Dorries, has tweeted: “If this witch hunt continues, it will be the most egregious abuse of power witnessed in Westminster.
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“It will cast serious doubt not only on the reputation of individual MPs sitting on the committee but on the processes of Parliament and democracy itself.”
A fellow Conservative MP, Sir Bill Cash MP, last week also called for privileges committee investigation to be scrapped, branding the inquiry as “unnecessary”. Mr Cash is putting forward a Commons motion calling for the inquiry to end.
However, her views are far from shared by all Conservative MPs. Senior Conservative MP Sir Bernard Jenkin who sits on the committee told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “If people wish to criticise it please write to the committee – don’t just conduct a sort of terrorist campaign to try and discredit the committee, because the privileges committee is how we self-regulate our affairs” .
Dorries’s claims have attracted further criticism with the SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, writing, “No, this is Parliament and parliamentarians doing their job and seeking to get to the truth.
“Parliament has mandated the privileges committee to conduct this investigation, it must reach a conclusion and if judgments and sanctions are applied that would be right and proper.”
Evidence demanded by the committee is said include Johnson’s diaries covering the 12 days on which parties were said to have been held in Westminster, as well as text messages, emails, photos, CCTV footage, and a list of deleted documents.
It was reported in the Telegraph earlier in the week that 3 Downing Street staff are prepared to give evidence to MPs which will support claims that Boris Johnson PM misled parliament over what he knows about the Partygate scandal.
If Mr Johnson is found to have misled parliament, he could face a recall petition should his suspension be longer than 10 sitting days. Under the provision of the Recall of MPs Act, a suspension of more than 10 days would allow a by-election to be held in his Uxbridge constituency should it be signed by more than 10% of his constituents. In that situation, Mr Johnson would then be forced to defend his marginal constituency at the polls or stand down from parliament.
The impending privileges committee inquiry will be an unwelcome distraction for the new Conservtive party leader. Likely to dominate media attention through the autumn, it will inhibit the party’s ability in the near term to move beyond the ‘partygate’ saga.
At the Conservative party hustings in Darlington, the current favourite to become the next PM, Liz Truss said, that she would vote to end the inquiry by MPs on the standards committee, albeit accepting that at the moment, ‘there isn’t a vote and it’s going ahead’.
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