Katy Balls Katy Balls

This week’s Privileges Committee could decide Boris’s fate

Boris Johnson (Credit: Getty images)

Boris Johnson was reselected on Thursday night as the Conservative candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency. Yet the future of his parliamentary career could be decided this week when he appears before the Privileges Committee. The former prime minister is facing a Commons inquiry into whether he knowingly misled parliament over partygate, the alleged Covid rule breaches in Downing Street during lockdown.

If the committee finds against Johnson, he could soon face a big parliamentary problem

On Wednesday afternoon, Johnson will appear before the seven MPs who make up the committee. The panel is led by Labour’s Harriet Harman along with four Tory MPs – Charles Walker, Bernard Jenkin, Alberto Costa and Andy Carter, one more Labour MP Yvonne Fovargue, and the SNP’s Allan Dorans. Johnson will face questions as to what he knew and when with the initial report by the committee (which has been gathering evidence) finding that members of Johnson’s own team struggled to argue that the gatherings were within the rules.

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