The former chairman of the Conservative Party has branded Boris Johnson a “moral vacuum” on the eve of the local elections.
Chris Patten, who was the last governor of Hong Kong, slammed the Prime Minister over the Partygate scandal and said it would be “foolish” to think his job had been saved by the war in Ukraine. He was speaking ahead of a lecture at Newcastle University, where he was previously chancellor for a decade, on Wednesday night.
Lord Patten told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that any backlash at the ballot box on Thursday to Covid rule breaches in Downing Street will not be “a determining factor” in the PM’s future, but said: “I think the continuing pitter patter of fines from the Metropolitan Police and, above all, the Sue Gray report are likely to be issues. Against that, the background is pretty grizzly with the economy, all the problems associated with energy prices, all of which is made more difficult by Brexit.
