Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has said that people will not thank politicians "if they argue like cats in the sand". He was speaking after Boris Johnson announced he is standing down as an MP with immediate effect after receiving the report into whether he lied to MPs over partygate.
That was not before nominating a number of senior officials who were implicated in the partygate scandal for the honours list. And in an excoriating statement, the former prime minister said a letter from the privileges committee made clear "that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament". Read everything he had to say here.
The cross-party privileges committee, led by Labour MP Harriet Harman, has been assessing whether Mr Johnson misled parliament with his statements claiming all COVID rules and guidance were followed by Number 10 during lockdown gatherings.
Mr Johnson was facing the prospect of a by-election if MPs recommended a suspension from the Commons of 10 days or more as a punishment for lying.
Speaking about the moment he heard the news of the resignation, Mr Davies told BBC Radio Wales: "I had spent a whole day TB testing the cattle and was looking a bit like a lobster after being out in the sun, so to come into hear that news only made my face go redder again. It wasn't something anyone was expecting, it is completely left field. I do regret that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has left the stage as he is someone who has huge empathy with people. I saw that first-hand when he came to Wales on many occasions to campaign.
"He won our largest majority back in 2019. He was on the right side of the argument when it was the Brexit referendum. He had the record of a winner but I do acknowledge went tragically wrong towards the end of his tenure as Prime Minister and that obviously had to be brought to a close. What has happened over the past couple of days has obviously taken everyone by surprise."
He added on Twitter:
The MS for South Wales Central added that "people in Westminster need to get back to the job of delivering on peoples' priorities".
Adding: "People will thank no politician if they argue like cats in the sand. I am a huge fan of Boris Johnson, he is a winner at the ballot box, he has huge abilities and he has delivered real achievements for this country admired around the globe and at home.
"But it has been a distraction and it is time to refocus and get on with delivering five key pledges."
Labour MP for Gower, Tonia Antoniazzi, told the same show she was "glad" Mr Johnson had stepped down and described him as a "waste of space", adding: "It's been a long time coming. Let's move on and build a better politics."
Meanwhile, Angela Rayner said Boris Johnson had let down those voters who handed him his landslide election victory in 2019, arguing that the former prime minister has shown he had "no respect for the British public".
The deputy Labour leader told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think the people put their trust in him because they thought he was about change and he was about putting them at the heart of decision-making, and he has let them down truly in the most devastating way at the time when they needed him most.
"No one could have predicted what happened to this country during the pandemic, but at the time when the public needed him the most, he basically was partying and lying to them at a time when they couldn't see their loved ones.
"And that is unforgivable.
"The fact that he cannot recognise the damage that he has done, and he has tried to stuff the Lords with people that propped him up and helped him and assisted him at the time shows us that actually he had no respect for the British public.
"It was all about Boris and it has always been all about Boris to him, and people will be left disappointed by his legacy."
Rhondda MP Sir Chris Bryant, the Labour chairman of the Privileges Committee who recused himself from the Boris Johnson investigation, said the former prime minister could be levelled with a new contempt of Parliament charge after his "narcissistic rant".
Mr Johnson accused MPs conducting the inquiry into whether he misled the Commons with his assurances over partygate of a "witch hunt" as he announced he was quitting the green benches on Friday.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Chris said: "The report still stands and will have to go to the House."
He added: "They may want to conclude that there has been an additional contempt of Parliament by the way that Boris Johnson has behaved in the last 24 hours and in the attacks on the committee, which are in effect an attack on the whole House.
"I don't think anybody can now be in any doubt that Boris Johnson holds Parliament in contempt.
"I thought that was evident through the illegal prorogation of Parliament, but it's certainly true now.
"The committee could ask the House to come to all sorts of different conclusions about the former member Boris Johnson, which would undoubtedly affect how he is seen into the future."
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