Boris Johnson stands down as MP with immediate effect

Boris Johnson has announced he is standing down as an MP with immediate effect after receiving the report into whether he lied to MPs over partygate.

In a statement, the former prime minister said a letter from the privileges committee made clear “that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament”.

Politics live: Boris Johnson quits saying privileges committee wants to ‘drive me out of parliament’

As a result, Mr Johnson said: “I have written to my association in Uxbridge and South Ruislip to say that I am stepping down forthwith and triggering an immediate by-election.

“I am very sorry to leave my wonderful constituency. It has been a huge honour to serve them, both as Mayor and MP.”

The cross-party privileges committee, led by Labour MP Harriet Harman, has been assessing whether Mr Johnson misled parliament with his statements claiming all COVID rules and guidance were followed by Number 10 during lockdown gatherings.

Mr Johnson was facing the prospect of a by-election if MPs recommended a suspension from the Commons of 10 days or more as a punishment for lying.

The SNP said Mr Johnson “jumped before he was pushed” while Labour said he is resigning “in disgrace”.

In his statement, the ex-prime minister said the committee “have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons”.

“They know perfectly well that when I spoke in the Commons I was saying what I believed sincerely to be true and what I had been briefed to say, like any other minister.”

He claimed their purpose “from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts” and that there is a “witch hunt underway, to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result”.

“I am now being forced out of parliament by a tiny handful of people, with no evidence to back up their assertions, and without the approval even of Conservative party members let alone the wider electorate.”

Read More: Boris Johnson’s resignation statement in full

Mr Johnson also used his statement to deliver a stinging attack on Rishi Sunak’s government.

“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.

“Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk. Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do.

“We need to show how we are making the most of Brexit and we need in the next months to be setting out a pro-growth and pro-investment agenda. We need to cut business and personal taxes – and not just as pre-election gimmicks – rather than endlessly putting them up.”

Johnson throwing in the towel in his political career

Sam Coates

Deputy political editor

@SamCoatesSky

It reads like a declaration of war but in reality today matters because Boris Johnson is simply throwing in the towel in his political career.

Ever since he was slung out as prime minister, Boris Johnson has been a ghost at the Tory feast. He sucked the oxygen out of the room, with the media and a slice of Tory party still hanging off his every word as if it mattered.

A more sober analysis suggests it does not, and today’s decision is less about taking a public stand, and more a recognition he is never “coming back” and doesn’t have the support in Parliament even to make causing trouble fun.

In 12 month’s time todays decision will be seen in another light – as an inevitability, rather than simply the consequences of the privileges committee and its demand he face a by-election.

The massive earning, the fact he would never likely have numbers to run for leader given the stain on his reputation – these are not reasons for staying. If he remained, he would likely undermine the current and every future Tory leader through his magnestism charm troublesome cunning and presence.

That’s why, once more, he has voted to leave: to preserve the myth, and not put it to the test with reality.

Johnson ‘jumped before he was pushed’

Conservative MP Sir Michael Fabricant, who received a knighthood in Boris Johnson’s long-awaited resignation honours list on Friday, said the former prime minister had been the subject of “disgraceful treatment”.

He tweeted: “Disgraceful treatment of a political leader who has made world history by achieving Brexit and leading the Conservatives to a landslide general election victory.”

Richard Mills, chairman of Uxbridge & South Ruislip Conservative Association, said it had been an “honour and privilege” to work with Mr Johnson since he was elected in 2015 and called his commitment to the constituency over the last eight years “outstanding”.

But Mr Johnson’s departure was welcomed by opposition MPs.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said: “As Boris Johnson exits in disgrace, the British public are sick to the back teeth of this never ending Tory soap opera played out at their expense.

“After thirteen years of Conservative chaos, enough is enough. It’s time for a fresh start for Britain with a Labour Government.”

Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal democrats, said: “Good riddance.”

SNP deputy leader Mhairi Black said: “Boris Johnson has jumped before he was pushed, and no one in Scotland will be sorry to see the back of him but he has also underlined the weakness of Rishi Sunak, who has no authority over the bitterly divided Tory party.”

Green MP Caroline Lucas said: “Everyone knew he was not fit to hold public office before he was even an MP. Yet Tories made him their leader & look what happened. Evading scrutiny to the last & choosing to quit just hours after gifting gongs & peerages in atrocious act of patronage & sleaze.”

The announcement, coming only hours after his resignation honours list had been published, means the Conservatives are likely to face a tough battle to hold onto the London seat at a by-election.

It was the second by-election triggered on Friday following former culture secretary Nadine Dorries’ decision to quit the Commons immediately, rather than wait until the next election.