Boris Johnson grilling: Our correspondents on how it went

Boris Johnson, the UK's former prime minister, has faced a grilling from a committee or MPs on whether he intentionally misled Parliament over lockdown parties.

Our political correspondent Ione Wells had a ringside seat in the committee room, and political editor Chris Mason was on the edge of his seat all afternoon.

From handwritten notes to wry smiles and tense exchanges, here's what they made of it.

Boris Johnson is always someone who has used - or attempted to use - humour in his speeches, even when he is trying to get out of the stickiest of situations.

He defended his view that his attendance at gatherings was in the rules, saying that during the birthday gathering for him - which the police gave him a fine for - the cake was put in a Tupperware box and later eaten by his private secretaries.

The comment got a few wry smiles in the room from spectators. But he was clearly trying to keep his tone more serious than usual, given what's at stake for his political career.

As the questions came thick and fast, Mr Johnson was being pretty defiant.

He argued that a leaving do he was photographed at - which shows a lack of social distancing - "had to happen" and was "necessary" because two senior members of staff had left in acrimonious circumstances and he needed to give reassurance, and it was "essential" for work purposes.

He seemed to be hammering this point about "necessity" as one of his key defences - the question will be whether that washes with the committee, who will be aware other key workers who still had to go to physical workplaces did not consider in-person leaving dos "necessary".

Remember though, the committee is not reopening the inquiry into whether these events were in the rules or not. They're trying to work out if he should have known they were not - and told Parliament as much.

From where I was sitting - directly behind Mr Johnson, it was quite fascinating watching this all play out.

His legal adviser was periodically handing him some notes and pointing to sections of his written submission to the committee outlining his defence, which was published on Tuesday.

Mr Johnson had a big stack of A4 sheets of paper with him too - many covered in handwritten scribbled notes.

Overall, it was tense, uncomfortable, and not just because the room was swelteringly warm.

The committee's grilling didn't last the full five hours some anticipated, but it was still extensive - and long.

So how did Johnson do? Well, we won't know just yet whether or not his evidence was enough to convince MPs that when - as he's admitted - he misled Parliament, he did not do so intentionally or recklessly, and corrected the record at the earliest opportunity.

Johnson seemed at his most confident when he was able to draw on facts that suggest rule breaking wouldn't have been obvious to him - like that official photographers were present at times and that his birthday gathering was briefed to the Times newspaper. He looked more at ease here.

It got trickier for him when he started having his own social distancing guidance cited back at him.

The photographic evidence here became difficult for him as he was forced to explain how drinks gatherings demonstrated social distancing being followed "wherever possible."

Here he relied mostly on his belief these gatherings were "essential" for work. Will that wash with the committee? We'll need to wait and see.

He was most visibly rattled - as were some of the supportive Tory MPs sat behind him - when they grilled him on whether he had adequate assurances that rules were followed, as he claimed to Parliament.

Many watching at home may have made up their minds already about whether or not they back his defence.

But it could be a while still before we know how all this has landed with the people who really matter now - the MPs who have his fate in their hands.

Today was about Boris Johnson's reputation - but it was, in reality, much bigger than that.

Public debate is built on truth. Some think that toppled over under Boris Johnson.

MPs are now trying to determine if the former prime minister lied to them.

Lengthy, detailed and at times testy, the testimony was punctuated - on an energetic day at Westminster - by a vote on Rishi Sunak's Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, which passed easily despite Boris Johnson's opposition.

And, it just so happened, right in middle of all of this, Downing Street decided it was the ideal time - for them - for the Prime Minister's long-awaited tax return to find its way into the light of day.

A man of vast wealth pays a vast amount of tax - nearly half a million pounds last year. Unsurprising, but eye-catching, were Westminster's eyes not diverted elsewhere.

The Privileges Committee now needs to digest Boris Johnson's account and work out if it amounts to a reckless or intentional misleading of parliament.

It all poses three questions tonight. Do they believe him? Do you believe him? And what will a day like this mean for how our leaders conduct themselves in future?

Will this change public opinion?

Analysis by Rob Watson, political correspondent

Boris Johnson is a man fighting for his political life. But I think there's a chance his testimony - long and involved as it was - will absolutely change nothing in terms of public opinion.

What do I mean by that? Polling suggests that those people who think this is a fuss about nothing and that he did a difficult job in difficult circumstances as well as he could - I don't think anything will have changed their minds.

And those who think - 'hang on a minute, there was clearly one rule for the rulers and one for the ruled. How on earth could they be having these functions? How on earth could he think this was a work event when everyone else was keeping two-metre distances?' I don't think they will have changed their minds.

But they're not the ones who matter of course - it's this committee of seven MPs who will have to reach a judgement as to whether Parliament was intentionally misled or not

What they're going to come up with - I don't know. But I just don't think public opinion is going to change very much - both in a positive and negative way for Boris Johnson.

There will no doubt continue to be a significant minority of people in this country who think "good ole Boris", and a significant majority who think he shouldn't come back to power - or anywhere near it.