Boris Johnson has announced he is quitting the Commons immediately, in a dramatic move that triggers a by-election the Tories could lose and that heaps severe pressure on Rishi Sunak.
The former prime minister said in a statement on Friday that he was stepping down as an MP in protest at the “kangaroo court” privileges committee, which has investigated whether he lied to MPs about lockdown parties in Downing Street.
It came hours after Number 10 published Johnson’s resignation honours list, in which he rewarded allies with peerages and other gongs, and days after he was passed the draft findings of the privileges committee’s inquiry.
Accusing the panel of MPs of mounting a “political hitjob” despite not having found “a shred of evidence” against him, he said he was being “forced out” by the committee, making clear his belief it was on track to mete out a sanction against him serious enough to potentially spark a by-election.
Seizing the initiative to step down on his own terms, he said it was “in no one’s interest . . . that the process the committee has launched should continue for a single day further”. He announced he was quitting his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, which he has represented since 2015.
Hinting at a desire to return to the Commons, he said he was leaving parliament “for now” — in a warning shot to Sunak.
The former prime minister issued oblique criticisms of his successor, saying the parliamentary majority was “clearly at risk” under Sunak’s leadership and the government needed to be “properly Conservative”.
Johnson also lashed out at Sunak for having “passively abandoned” seeking a UK-US trade deal, as well as having “junked” measures to scrap all EU laws, help people into housing and promote animal welfare.
Opposition parties seized on the news, with Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper saying “good riddance”. He was accused of having “jumped before he was pushed” by the SNP’s deputy Westminster leader Mhairi Black. Labour’s Angela Rayner said the public were “sick to the back teeth of this never-ending Tory soap opera”.
A spokesman for the privileges committee said Johnson had “impugned the integrity of the House by his statement” and added that the committee had “followed the procedures and the mandate of the House at all times”. The panel of MPs will meet on Monday to finish their inquiry and publish the report promptly, the spokesman said.
Johnson’s was the second shock parliamentary resignation of the day, after his close ally Nadine Dorries announced she was quitting the Commons “with immediate effect”. The move triggers a by-election in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
The former culture secretary’s exit followed claims she was among a group of Tory MPs denied peerages because Sunak did not want to risk by-elections the party could lose.
The prime minister’s press secretary dismissed suggestions he had been responsible for removing any names, while also seeking to distance Sunak from those awarded honours, saying: “He had no involvement or input into the approved list.”
While Dorries has a 24,664 majority, by-elections can produce upsets. Another Conservative majority of more than 24,000 was overturned by the Liberal Democrats in a by-election in Tiverton and Honiton last year.
Johnson’s Greater London seat will be a tighter contest. He won by 7,210 votes in 2019.
Earlier on Friday his resignation honours list revealed he had rewarded allies including Eurosceptic MPs, a Tory mayor facing questions about a regeneration project, and a former official embroiled in partygate.
It followed months of tension between Sunak’s and Johnson’s backers over the list, which comprised seven peerages and 38 other honours.
Johnson nominated loyal Conservative MPs Jacob Rees-Mogg, Conor Burns, Simon Clarke and Michael Fabricant for knighthoods, while Priti Patel, Andrea Jenkyns and Amanda Milling received damehoods.
Veteran Eurosceptic Tory MP Sir Bill Cash became a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour.
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, who is facing a government-commissioned review of his regeneration project called Teesworks in north-east England, was raised to the peerage.
And senior figures who served in Downing Street during the partygate saga were rewarded. They included Johnson’s former principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, who was nominated to become a Companion of the Bath. Reynolds was dubbed “Party Marty” by the tabloid media after organising a “bring your own booze” gathering in the Number 10 garden in May 2020 during the first Covid lockdown.
Johnson nominated for a peerage his former chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, who left Downing Street in a 24-hour spate of departures in February 2022 as the row over partygate escalated.
Ben Elliot, a former Tory co-chair who faced scrutiny over the overlap between his business interests and fundraising duties for the party, was awarded a knighthood.
Media executive Will Lewis, a former Financial Times journalist who served as a political adviser to Johnson, also received a knighthood.
Johnson appointed his hairdresser to the Order of the British Empire.
Opposition parties had urged Sunak to block Johnson’s resignation list ahead of publication, with Labour pressing the prime minister not to approve awards for a “carousel of cronies”.
Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock accused Sunak of having “caved in” to pressure from warring factions within the Tory party by accepting the list.
The length of Johnson’s list was in keeping with recent resignation honours by former prime ministers. Theresa May’s list included eight Conservative peerages and 41 other honours. David Cameron’s comprised 13 Tory peerages and 46 other honours.
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