Former UK PM Boris Johnson Resigns Amidst Controversial Probe

• Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned as a member of parliament amidst accusations of lying to parliament about Covid lockdown-breaking parties.

• He claims to have been forced out by political opponents and denounces the investigation as a biased “kangaroo court.”

• The cross-party committee’s findings are yet to be made public, but Johnson has preemptively quit, avoiding a potential by-election in his constituency.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Former United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has announced his resignation as a member of parliament on Friday.

The 58-year-old populist politician claimed that he had been forced out in a stitch-up by his political opponents.

EDITOR’S PICKS

• Shehu Sani Slams Wike’s Appointment Obsession, Questions APC’s Focus
• Arewa Women, APC Governors Back Tajudeen Abbas As House Speaker
• Apple Unveils Revolutionary Mixed Reality Headset, Challenges Meta’s Dominance

Johnson has been under investigation by a cross-party committee about whether he repeatedly lied to parliament over Covid lockdown-breaking parties when he was in office.

In evidence earlier this year he angrily insisted he had not.

But as the committee prepares to make public its findings, he said they had contacted him “making it clear… they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament”.

The Privileges Committee, which has a majority of MPs from his own Conservative party, has powers to impose sanctions for misleading parliament, including suspension.

Ordinarily, suspension of more than 10 working days leads to a by-election in the MP’s constituency.

Johnson, though, pre-empted any finding — or having to fight to remain an MP in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency in northwest London where he holds a slim majority of just over 7,000 — by quitting.

He denounced the committee, chaired by veteran opposition Labour MP Harriet Harman, as a “kangaroo court”.

“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, anti-democratically… with such egregious bias,” hesaid.

Recall that Boris Johnson quit as prime minister and left office in September 2022.

Johnson, who was sacked from his first job at The Times newspaper for making up a quote, made his name as Brussels correspondent of the Daily Telegraph peddling euromyths.

FURTHER READING  

• TUC Roars: Demands N200,000 Monthly Minimum Wage, Lower Petrol Price For Negotiations
• Tinubu And Other Political Powerhouses Converge Behind A Closed Door Amid Tribunal Case
• Imo Election: LP Candidate Reveals Running Mate, Delivers Quit Notice To Uzodinma

He first became an MP in 2001 until 2008, then quit to serve two four-year terms as London’s mayor. He became an MP again in 2015, going on to be foreign secretary under Theresa May.

Click to watch our video of the week

---

Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:

Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.

Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.

Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611