Britain’s former Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face hours of hostile questioning over whether he misled parliament over rule-breaking Covid-19 lockdown parties at a hearing where he will fight for his political career.
Parliament’s Privileges Committee is investigating whether Johnson, who was evicted from Downing Street last September, deliberately or recklessly misled Parliament in a series of statements about the rule-breaking parties.
The former leader, who last year considered a bold bid for a second term as prime minister, will testify to the committee over several hours during a televised session on Wednesday.
If the committee finds Johnson has deliberately misled parliament, he could be suspended from the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament. Any suspension longer than 10 days could lead to by-elections in his constituency.
The so-called partygate scandal ultimately contributed to Johnson’s downfall after months of reports that he, along with other senior government figures, had attended alcohol-fueled Downing Street rallies in 2020 and 2021, when most of the rest of Great Britain was present. forced to stay at home.
The outcry and repeated accusations of lying eventually led to the resignation of much of his top team of ministers, including the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak.
In an interim report published this month, lawmakers on the committee – made up of seven lawmakers with a majority of members of the ruling Conservative Party – said Johnson may have misled parliament on four occasions and that breaking the rules was “for the obvious” should have been.
On Tuesday, Johnson said in written evidence to the committee that he had misled parliament, but insisted he “never dreamed” of doing so deliberately.
Johnson described some of the allegations he faced from the committee as illogical and absurd, accusing him of being highly partisan.
In passages likely to be part of his defense on Wednesday, Johnson said there was no evidence he had deliberately misled parliament and that he had not been warned that the events broke any rules.
The commission said Johnson submitted his evidence too late, that it contained errors and no “new documentary evidence”.
If the committee recommends sanctions against Johnson, they must be approved by parliament.
Sunak this week suggested that any vote on any sanctions against Johnson would be based on lawmakers’ own beliefs rather than along party lines.