Partygate report: Verdict on Boris Johnson lying to parliament to be published

The former UK prime minister dramatically quit as an MP after receiving the verdict

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson on his morning run ahead of the publication of the Privileges Committee report. Getty Images

MPs will publish their long-awaited report on Thursday into whether Boris Johnson lied to parliament over partygate, days after he dramatically quit after receiving the verdict.

The Privileges Committee will release its findings after a 14-month investigation into whether the former prime minister committed a contempt of parliament by misleading MPs either recklessly or deliberately by denying lockdown rules were broken in No 10 Downing Street.

The Privileges Committee report is expected to be released about 9am on Thursday and to be about 30,000 words long.

Mr Johnson has indicated that he will make his "views clear" once the findings are made public.

But he has already railed against the committee, calling it a "kangaroo court", and quit as an MP on Friday after receiving its verdict, saying it was “determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament”.

The Financial Times has reported that Mr Johnson will be found to have committed several contempts of parliament, including disclosing some of its draft findings in his resignation statement last week.

The MPs on the panel have rejected his defence that senior officials had advised him that Covid rules and guidance had been followed in No 10, according to the report.

The former Conservative leader's resignation means he will not serve the lengthy suspension likely to be recommended.

If it was at least 10 days and approved by the Commons, then a by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency could have been triggered.

His decision to quit pre-empted such an outcome, with his constituents to go to the polls next month in a major electoral challenge for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Speaking to Radio 4 early on Thursday, the director for The Institute for Government, Hannah White, said it was important that the House had an opportunity to take a view on the conclusions drawn by the committee.

“I think once we see the report today and once the government schedules time for the House to debate and vote on it, is we will see whether it’s just a few MPs who think what is in the report or whether it is endorsed by all of Mr Johnson’s colleagues,” she said.

Boris Johnson's time as British Prime Minister - in pictures

Boris Johnson became UK prime minister in July 2019, left, and resigned three years later in July 2022, right. Here 'The National' looks back at his colourful time as leader of the country. Getty Images / Reuters

Boris Johnson reads a statement outside 10 Downing Street, formally resigning as Conservative Party leader. PA

Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson attend the National Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth at St Paul's Cathedral in June 2022. Getty Images

Boris Johnson addresses the media after surviving a confidence vote in his leadership, in June 2022. PA

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, announcing that Mr Johnson had survived a confidence vote in his leadership at the Houses of Parliament in June. PA

Mr Johnson chats with residents in a Diamond Jubilee-themed room as he makes a constituency visit to Sweetcroft care home in Uxbridge, in May 2022. Getty Images

Boris Johnson reads the findings of the Sue Gray report into gatherings on government premises while Covid-19 restrictions were in place, in his office in No 10, Downing Street in May 2022. Photo: Downing Street

An image of a gathering in the Cabinet Room in No 10, Downing Street in June 2020 on the prime minister's birthday was released alongside the Sue Gray report. Photo: Cabinet Office

Boris Johnson with a Mark 3 shoulder launch missile system at Thales weapons manufacturer during a visit to Northern Ireland for talks, in May 2022 in Belfast. Getty Images

Mr Johnson having a turban placed on his head at Gujarat Bio Technology University, during his two-day trip to India in April. Getty Images

Mr Johnson after apologising to MPs for the 'partygate' fine he had received, in the House of Commons in April. AFP

Mr Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walking in central Kyiv, in April. AFP

Mr Johnson arrives for a media interview at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, in March 2022. Getty Images

Mr Johnson speaks with officers as he makes a constituency visit to Uxbridge police station in December 2021. Getty Images

Mr Johnson observes an early morning Merseyside Police raid on a home in Liverpool as part of 'Operation Toxic' to infiltrate county lines drug dealings in December 2021. Getty Images

Boris Johnson during a visit to Westport Care Home in Stepney Green, ahead of unveiling his long-awaited plan to fix the social care system, in September 2021. Getty Images

Prince Charles looks on as Boris Johnson attempts to open his umbrella at the National Memorial Arboretum in Stafford, in July 2021. Getty Images

President of the European Council Charles Michel, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Mr Johnson and Italian PM Mario Draghi pose for the leaders' official photo during the G7 summit in Cornwall, in June 2021. Getty Images

Mr Johnson poses with his wife Carrie in the garden of No 10, Downing Street following their wedding at Westminster Cathedral, in May 2021. Getty Images

Mr Johnson visits Hartlepool after the Conservative Party candidate Jill Mortimer won the Hartlepool by-election in May 2021. Getty Images

Mr Johnson receives his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, in March 2021. Getty Images

Mr Johnson smiles during a televised press conference at No 10, Downing Street in February 2021, as he announces a phased exit from the country's lockdown measures. Getty Images

Mr Johnson gives a thumbs-up gesture after signing the Brexit trade deal with the EU in No 10, Downing Street, in December 2020. Getty Images

Mr Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meet for a dinner to try to reach a breakthrough on a post-Brexit trade deal, in December 2020 in Brussels. Getty Images

Mr Johnson with a vial of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 candidate vaccine, known as AZD1222, at Wockhardt's pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, in November 2020, in Wrexham, Wales. Getty Images

Mr Johnson drills during his visit to Exeter College in September 2020. Getty Images

Mr Johnson holds crabs caught on the Carvela at Stromness Harbour in July 2020, during a visit to Scotland. Getty Images

Mr Johnson holds a painting of a ladybird during a visit to The Discovery School in West Malling, in July 2020. Getty Images

Mr Johnson and his fiancée Carrie Symonds applaud for key workers outside No 10, Downing Street, in May 2020. Getty Images

Boris Johnson appears on monitors for a meeting in London. The prime minister chaired the morning update meeting remotely as he was self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19. Reuters

Boris Johnson makes a televised address to the nation from inside No 10, Downing Street, with the latest instructions to stay at home to help contain the Covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020. AFP

Mr Johnson attends the launch of the UK-hosted COP26 Summit at the Science Museum in London, in February 2020. Getty Images

Mr Johnson is greeted by staff at No 10, Downing Street, after meeting Queen Elizabeth II and accepting her invitation to form a new government in December 2019. PA

Mr Johnson and his partner Carrie enter Downing Street as the Conservatives celebrate a sweeping election victory in December 2019. Getty Images

Mr Johnson drives a digger with the words 'Get Brexit Done' inside the digger bucket through a fake wall emblazoned with the word 'GRIDLOCK', during a general election campaign event in December 2019. Getty Images

Mr Johnson eats pie on the campaign bus in Derby, on the final day of campaigning before the general election in December 2019. Getty Images

Mr Johnson takes a turn in goal during the warm up before a girls' football match between Hazel Grove United JFC and Poynton Juniors in December 2019. Getty Images

Mr Johnson poses with workers as he is given a tour of Wilton Engineering Services as part of an election campaign trail stop in November 2019, in Middlesbrough. Getty Images

Mr Johnson poses for a photo wearing boxing gloves during a stop on his general election campaign trail in Manchester, in November 2019. Getty Images

Mr Johnson eats a rock sweet which reads 'Back Boris' during a general election campaign trail stop in Blackpool, in November 2019. Getty Images

Mr Johnson leads a bull around a pen as he visits Darnford Farm near Aberdeen, Scotland, in September 2019. Getty Images

Former US president Donald Trump and Mr Johnson arrive for a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in August 2019, in Biarritz, France. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth welcomes Mr Johnson as the newly elected leader of the Conservative party and invites him to become prime minister and form a new government, at Buckingham Palace in July 2019. Getty Images

Mr Johnson's ally Nigel Adams also stepped down and supporter Nadine Dorries announced that she will go too, although her demands for answers about why she was denied a peerage before she formally quits as an MP look likely to prolong the by-election struggle for the prime minister.

In a last-ditch attempt to disparage the Tory-majority panel on the eve of publication, Mr Johnson called for its most senior Conservative member to resign.

He accused Sir Bernard Jenkin of "monstrous hypocrisy" after the Guido Fawkes website reported the MP had gone to a drinks party in parliament while Covid restrictions were in place in 2020.

Ms White told Radio 4: “It’s certainly not a contempt, as Mr Johnson has alleged, because there is no indication that [Sir Bernard] has misled the House. But the allegation is that he may have breached lockdown rules. Those rules, of course, if there was a breach, would be for the police to investigate.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Mr Johnson's call was a "typical distraction tactic" from the former premier "that doesn't change the fact he broke the law and lied about it".

A senior aide in fact warned him against claiming to the Commons that social distancing guidelines were observed, the newspaper reported.

A vote could be held on the seven-person committee's conclusions in the Commons next week.

A majority vote in favour would amount to a significant rebuke for Mr Johnson less than a year after he left No 10.

In his resignation letter, Mr Johnson claimed the report from the seven-person committee was “riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice”.

Tobias Ellwood, Tory MP and chairman of the defence select committee in the House of Commons, on Thursday said Mr Johnson is “looking increasingly desperate”.

Mr Ellwood said the “public pantomime” surrounding the former prime minister is a distraction from Rishi Sunak’s agenda and vision for the country.

“It’s time to draw a line and move forward,” he told Sky News. “And I hope the release of this publication today will allow us to do that.”

Mr Ellwood said it appears to be Mr Johnson’s “long term intention” to make a return to frontline politics.

Allies of the former Tory leader have predicted the findings of the report will turn Mr Johnson into a “martyr”.

A Tory MP was quoted by The Guardian as saying Mr Johnson “isn’t planning on going quietly” and “would burn Parliament to the ground around him”.

Speaking early on Thursday, Mr Sunak said he was not handed an advance copy of the report. He said the findings of the committee will be matters for the House of Commons “and Parliament will deal with them in the normal way that it does”.

Asked if he felt frustrated by his former boss’s interventions in recent days, Mr Sunak said: “No, I’m just getting on with delivering for the country.”

The committee is expected to raise concerns about MPs who have criticised the investigation, but not name them, according to The Financial Times.

Home Office Minister Chris Philp argued that the MPs, including Tory former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who branded it a "kangaroo court", should not be censured.

"Although I don't characterise the committee in those terms, I think people are free to express their opinions," he told ITV's Peston.

"I don't think we should be trying to sort of muzzle MPs."

Senior Tory MP Caroline Nokes told the same programme that "the psychodrama of what's going on with the former minister, the chaos of these by-elections" were a "distraction" from the big issues facing the country.