Markus Andrews

MPs investigating whether Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over the Partygate scandal have demanded a tranche of documents, including the prime minister’s diaries and photographs of events.The committee of privileges, which will begin holding evidence sessions in September, after the summer recess, wrote to Mr Johnson and the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, on Friday.Ordering No 10 to release the documents, MPs requested Mr Johnson’s diaries covering eight dates – including 19 June 2020, when a birthday gathering was held for the prime minister in the cabinet room.Both Mr Johnson and the former chancellor, Rishi Sunak, were issued with fixed penalty notices by the Metropolitan Police in relation to this event, as part of the Met’s investigation into breaches of Covid regulations.The MPs demanded the release of all email and electronic event invitations – including those sent via WhatsApp – along with Downing Street entry logs. They also requested the prime minister’s briefing packs for his appearances in the Commons.RecommendedIn addition, the committee requested “all photos for days where Mr Johnson attended any event included in the timeline, including those by the PM’s official photographer Andrew Parsons”.After the prime minister told MPs in December that he had received assurances that no Covid rules had been broken, the committee urged No 10 to release “all advice (including legal advice) and assurances received by Mr Johnson” relating to the events in question.In her letter to Mr Case and Mr Johnson, the chair of the committee, Labour MP Harriet Harman, said: “The committee would be grateful to receive the specified documents by no later than 15 August.”Downing Street, however, could not guarantee that it would provide the committee with all the evidence requested. “You will appreciate that we have recently received those letters and requests, which we’ll now take a proper look at,” a No 10 spokesperson said.“As we’ve said before, we will assist the committee in their inquiries, but once we’ve had the time to look at the letters and requests we’ll set out our response to the committee.”RecommendedBefore Mr Johnson announced his resignation last week, some MPs had been awaiting the outcome of the committee’s inquiry before moving against the prime minister.In spite of Mr Johnson’s imminent departure from Downing Street, the committee will continue its work into whether he deliberately misled parliament, with the issue likely to be thrust back into the spotlight in September. The committee has the power to recommend sanctions if the prime minister is found to have breached parliamentary rules. More

Just five candidates remain in the Conservative Party leadership race following Thursday’s second round of voting.Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, attorney general Suella Braverman, ex-health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt and transport secretary Grant Shapps have already dropped out after failing to amass the support needed.That leaves ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak as the front-runner to replace Boris Johnson, the very man whose resignation last week marked the beginning of the end for the scandal-hit prime minister. Junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt, foreign secretary Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat make up the rest of the pack.The contest now reaches its TV debate stage, with the surviving quintet squaring up three times in five days to thrash out their policy positions on key areas of national concern such as the cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine and the recent resurgence of coronavirus.RecommendedThe first clash takes place this evening (Friday 15 July) and will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 7.30pm, running for 90 minutes and hosted by anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy.The second, on Sunday 17 July, will be broadcast on ITV at 7pm and run for an hour, with more details expected from the broadcaster soon. It will also be available on the ITV Hub.The third and final session takes place on the evening of Tuesday 19 July by which point further candidates will have been eliminated after a further round of voting on Monday.This last instalment will be aired on Sky News at 8pm and mediated by Kay Burley.The Independent will cover all three debates live on our site, bringing you all the latest breaking news updates.They will also be broadcast as they happen on the channels concerned and on YouTube. More

Lord David Frost has urged Tory leadership contender Kemi Badenoch to pull out of the race to succeed Boris Johnson in No 10 and support the foreign secretary Liz Truss’s bid.Calling for “unity among free marketeers”, the former Brexit minister heaped praised on Ms Badenoch but said she should withdraw “in return for a serious job in a Truss administration”.His remarks come after the attorney general Suella Braverman was eliminated from the contest at the second ballot of Tory MPs on Thursday, and later threw her support behind the foreign secretary.Ms Truss is currently fighting to reach the final two, but Penny Mordaunt, a former defence secretary, and former chancellor Rishi Sunak, are leading among nominations from colleagues in the Tory party.“Kemi and Suella Braverman set out convincing programmes, with differing emphases, for change,” Lord Frost wrote in The Daily Telegraph.Recommended“But Liz’s depth of experience, her energy and ideas – as well as the simple fact she has the most votes of the three – put her in the lead.“It is now time for pragmatism. I urge Kemi to stand down in return for a serious job in a Truss administration.”But one senior Tory MP, Simon Hoare, lashed out at Lord Frost’s intervention, saying on Friday: “I don’t wish to be rude BUT who the hell is an unelected, failed Minister to tell any MP what to do? “For some unknown reason David Frost perpetually thinks we give a flying xxxx what he thinks. We don’t and we won’t”.Ms Badenoch’s campaign also stressed said she is “in it to win”. Her spokesman said: “Kemi has brought interesting ideas and a new approach to this leadership contest. She is looking forward to the debates this weekend.“She has no intention of stepping down and is in it to win.” More

Just five candidates remain in the Conservative Party leadership race following Thursday’s second round of voting.Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, attorney general Suella Braverman, ex-health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt and transport secretary Grant Shapps have already dropped out after failing to amass the support needed.That leaves ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak as the front-runner to replace Boris Johnson, the very man whose resignation last week marked the beginning of the end for the scandal-hit prime minister. Junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt, foreign secretary Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat make up the rest of the pack.The contest now reaches its TV debate stage, with the surviving quintet squaring up three times in five days to thrash out their policy positions on key areas of national concern such as the cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine and the recent resurgence of coronavirus.RecommendedThe first clash takes place this evening (Friday 15 July) and will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 7.30pm, running for 90 minutes and hosted by anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy.The second, on Sunday 17 July, will be broadcast on ITV at 7pm and run for an hour, with more details expected from the broadcaster soon. It will also be available on the ITV Hub.The third and final session takes place on the evening of Tuesday 19 July by which point further candidates will have been eliminated after a further round of voting on Monday.This last instalment will be aired on Sky News at 8pm and mediated by Kay Burley.The Independent will cover all three debates live on our site, bringing you all the latest breaking news updates.They will also be broadcast as they happen on the channels concerned and on YouTube. More

The Conservative Party leadership race is already down to its final five and becoming increasingly heated, as supporters of foreign secretary Liz Truss are accused of briefing against junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt, currently in second place.The front-runner to replace Boris Johnson remains ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak, whose resignation last week marked the beginning of the end for the scandal-hit prime minister. Ms Mordaunt, Ms Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat make up the rest of the pack after the second round of voting on Thursday.Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, attorney general Suella Braverman, ex-health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt and transport secretary Grant Shapps have all dropped out after failing to amass the support needed. More

The Conservative Party leadership race is already down to its final five and becoming increasingly heated, as supporters of foreign secretary Liz Truss are accused of briefing against junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt, currently in second place.The front-runner to replace Boris Johnson remains ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak, whose resignation last week marked the beginning of the end for the scandal-hit prime minister. Ms Mordaunt, Ms Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat make up the rest of the pack after the second round of voting on Thursday.Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, attorney general Suella Braverman, ex-health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt and transport secretary Grant Shapps have all dropped out after failing to amass the support needed. More

Tory MPs have already voted twice in their leadership contest, and will soon be voting in their third round.Under Conservative party rules, MPs will keep voting and eliminating the candidate with the least support until there are just two left.Those final two will be put to the entire party membership in a head-to-head contest.Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi were the fist two candidates eliminated in the first round of the contest, which took place on Wednesday 13th July.Then on Thursday 14th July MPs held a second ballot, eliminating right-wing candidate Suella Braverman.RecommendedAt each stage so far Rishi Sunak has topped the ballot, with Penny Mordaunt coming in second and Liz Truss third.The other two candidates are Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch.The next phase of the contest will take place on Monday 18th July, where a third ballot will be held to eliminate another candidate. Results are expected by 8pm.The fourth ballot will take place on Tuesday 19th, with results at 3pm, and the fifth ballot on Wednesday 20th, with results at 4pm.There will then be two candidates left for members to vote on over the summer. Boris Johnson’s successor will be announced on 5 September. More

Conservative leadership race: Who is Penny Mordaunt?Penny Mordaunt has told Tory grassroots members that the polling shows she is the only leadership candidate who will be able to defeat Labour at a General Election.She told the online hustings: “In every poll in our party and in the country I top it. I win against Keir Starmer in London. “I poll the highest in both Red Wall and Blue Wall seats. I lead with women, with young people and I also have the best reach in Scotland.”During the debate, hosted by Conservative Home, the remaining five Tory leadership candidates set out differing approaches to the cost-of-living crisis, the Ukraine war, restoring trust and housing.Liz Truss vowed to axe the scheduled corporation tax hike from 19% to 25% next year in her pitch for the Tory leadership. Ms Truss said: “I would reverse the national insurance rise, I opposed it in cabinet at the time because I thought it was a mistake, I think it’s even more of a mistake now when we’re facing such strong economic headwinds.“I would also have a temporary moratorium on the green energy level to cut £153 from people’s energy bills.RecommendedShow latest update

1657896342Who do you think will win the Tory leadership race? Have your sayThe Tory leadership hopefuls have been whittled down to five and are preparing for two live televised debates before another vote on Monday.And we want to know who you think is going to win the contest to be party leader and therefore our next prime minister.Let us know by clicking the link below and voting in the poll. More