Boris Johnson: What have MPs said about lockdown parties?
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MPs have voted on a report on former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's behaviour, saying overall that they agree with what was said, 354 said they supported it, and only seven said they did not.
Last week, a report was released saying that Boris Johnson "deliberately misled" MPs, which is political language for lying on purpose.
The report said Boris Johnson misled MPs when he was asked about parties held at his office during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Boris Johnson was prime minister when he was holding these parties, and had told everyone to stay indoors and not mix with other people.
Mr Johnson has previously admitted his statements about lockdown parties misled Parliament but denied doing so on purpose.
Report finds Boris Johnson "deliberately misled" Parliament about lockdown parties
Last week, a report into Boris Johnson, a former UK prime minister, was released. Before members of the public could see the report, Mr Johnson read it and stepped down as a member of parliament.
It said that when asked about parties held in his office during the Covid lockdowns, Boris Johnson "deliberately misled" MPs.
"Deliberately misled" is a phrase politicians use, but it basically means to lie on purpose.
Since then, MPs have debated the report and got to vote on if they agree with it.
Why did MPs get to vote about the report?
Big reports like this one are very rare in politics.
When reports like this are released in Parliament, MPs get to decide if they agree with it, or if they think it was unfair. Before the vote, MPs had a discussion in the House of Commons called a debate, where they talked about what the report said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did not go to the debate, and he also has refused to say how he would have voted.
Mr Johnson had asked his supporters to not vote against the report, and 225 MPs did not turn up to vote or abstained, which means they chose not to vote on purpose.
During the debate, supporters of Mr Johnson spoke out against the report's findings but 118 MPs in the Conservative Party, which Boris Johnson used to be be in charge of, voted in support of the report.
What will happen to Boris Johnson now?
Mr Johnson is the first former prime minister to have been found to have deliberately misled Parliament
The committee which carried out the investigation recommended that Boris Johnson should be suspended for 90 days, and that he should not be allowed to have a parliamentary pass. The pass means you can get into parliamentary buildings in Westminster, where political decisions are made.
However, Boris Johnson stepped down as an MP before the report was published so the 90 day suspension no longer applies but he will have his parliamentary pass removed.
- Published24 May
- Published23 March 2023
