Rishi Sunak considers the scandal over Boris Johnson’s Partygate lies to parliament to be over after last night’s vote to punish the former prime minister, Downing Street has said.
No 10 said the prime minister – who did not vote on Monday as MPs backed the findings of the scathing report into Mr Johnson’s conduct – “respects” the decision of the House.
Mr Sunak blamed a diary clash for his absence and has declined to give his opinion on the vote to back the privileges committee’s decision to theoretically suspend Mr Johnson for 90 days and strip him of his parliamentary pass.
Asked whether Mr Sunak believes Mr Johnson did mislead the House, the PM’s official spokesman said: “He respects the decision the House has come to, this follows extensive work by the committee.”
Asked whether Mr Sunak thought the saga was now closed, the spokesman said: “Yes.”
The government is desperate to draw a line under the row, which has seen Johnson loyalists warning that Tory MPs could face deselection by their local associations if they backed the finding that he lied to parliament.
Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said the “caravan has got to move on” after the vote which saw MPs overwhelmingly endorse the committee’s report – though he said he had abstained because he was “quite uncomfortable” with the 90-day suspension.
“My hope is that Boris Johnson, the current cabinet… that we can all row together now and focus on what people really care about,” Mr Stride added.
But a row continues over Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list after a video emerged of a mid-lockdown party at Conservative Campaign Headquarters attended by Tory politician Shaun Bailey.
Boris Johnson’s decision to gove Shaun Bailey peerage still under scrutiny
Senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood said the former London mayoral candidate should reconsider the peerage handed to him by the former PM.
The former minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today that there are “big questions” surrounding it, adding: “Absolutely he needs to consider that, if I’m frank.”
Mr Stride suggested there could be a way to remove Mr Bailey’s peerage if the Metropolitan Police come to a damning conclusion about the event in December 2020.
“There are then mechanisms involving the Forfeiture Committee that can lead to changes to honours that have been given in the past. But I don’t want to start pre-judging that process,” he told Today.
Mr Sunak was accused of a “cowardly cop-out” by the Liberal Democrats for avoiding the vote, and accused by Labour of being “too weak” to stand up to his predecessor.
Only seven MPs voted against the report, with even some of Mr Johnson’s staunchest allies abstaining. But the vote has deepened the tensions with the Tory party, which have seen the former prime minister openly criticising Mr Sunak.
Much of the government payroll did not take part in the vote but some cabinet ministers including Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and justice secretary Alex Chalk chose to support it.
