London [UK], June 20 : The UK parliament has voted to uphold a revelation that former Prime Minster Boris Johnson deliberately misled lawmakers when he claimed that Covid lockdown procedures had always been followed in Downing Street when he served as a prime minister, CNN reported.
Johnson "committed a serious contempt" of parliament, according to the House of Commons Privileges Committee report, which was released last week. This was true despite evidence of illegal parties taking place in Downing Street while the country was on lockdown. Johnson and the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were among the several Downing Street employees who received fines from the police.
In addition to noting that Johnson had intentionally misled the parliament, the committee said that he had also mislead the committee when he was testifying in support of his case.
The vote passed the House of Commons by 354 to 7. It was assumed that the vote would succeed as a few of Johnson's fellow Conservatives were absent and abstained, as per CNN.
Johnson apparently urged his most vociferous followers to abstain from voting so as not to give the committee's decision credibility. These individuals fiercely defended Johnson throughout and sharply criticised the committee.
Johnson would have been subject to a protracted expulsion from the House of Representatives and denied a pass that allowed former lawmakers access to the building.
Johnson will neither serve the ban or participate in the by-election that would have been held as a result of the prohibition because he has already resigned from his position as an MP, according to a report published in CNN.
Sunak and the rest of the Conservative Party will hope that the controversy surrounding Johnson and the scandals that toppled his administration will be put behind them as they move on. Sunak and his party are now lagging in the polls, though.
Liz Truss, Johnson's immediate successor, made contentious expenditure decisions and budget cuts that led to an economic collapse before being replaced by Sunak.
In his sales pitch, Sunak promised to bring order to the previously turbulent political situation.
He has to some extent achieved that, but his poll numbers have only marginally improved, which is making his own MPs nervous, reported CNN.
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