Former prime minister Boris Johnson committed “serious, serious contempt”, the Commons’ Privileges Committee has concluded.
The investigation into Mr Johnson found that he deliberately misled Parliament by denying that lockdown rules were broken in No 10.
The committee said: “We conclude that when he told the House and this Committee that the rules and guidance were being complied with, his own knowledge was such that he deliberately misled the House and this committee.”
In response, Mr Johnson said in a statement: “The committee now says that I deliberately misled the House, and at the moment I spoke I was consciously concealing from the House my knowledge of illicit events.
“This is rubbish. It is a lie. In order to reach this deranged conclusion, the committee is obliged to say a series of things that are patently absurd, or contradicted by the facts.”
Alongside Mr Johnson, who was prime minister at the time, a number of other MPs were found to have broken lockdown rules.
Which MPs broke lockdown rules?
Boris Johnson
During the pandemic, while Mr Johnson was prime minister, he hosted a number of parties at Downing Street despite lockdowns being in place.
Mr Johnson resigned as an MP on Friday (June 9) after reading the Privilege Committee’s findings, calling them “rubbish and “deranged”.
Rishi Sunak
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was fined for attending Mr Johnson’s birthday party during lockdown, when he was Chancellor.
At the time, he said: “I paid the FPN notice straight away and I am extremely and sincerely sorry for the hurt and the anger that this has caused so many people.”
Matt Hancock
In June 2021, former Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted to breaking social distancing guidelines when details of an affair with aide Gina Coladangelo emerged.
He later resigned as Health Secretary amid calls for Mr Johnson to fire him. At the time, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “Matt Hancock is right to resign. But Boris Johnson should have sacked him.”
Gavin Williamson
Gavin Williamson, former Education Secretary, reportedly threw a party for Department of Education staff in December 2020, according to Sue Gray’s report.
Margaret Ferrier
Margaret Ferrier, MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, travelled by train to Westminster to take part in a debate while suffering from Covid symptoms in September 2020. She then travelled back to Scotland by train after receiving a positive test result.
Ms Ferrier has been suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days, risking a byelection should 10 per cent of her constituents sign a recall petition.
Which government staff broke lockdown rules?
A number of government staff also broke lockdown rules, including Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings and former press secretary Allegra Stratton.
Dominic Cummings
In 2020, Mr Cummings came under fire for reportedly breaking lockdown rules for driving to Barnard Castle to “test his eyesight” before driving back to London.
Allegra Stratton
Ms Stratton resigned from her position as Mr Johnson’s adviser after a video of her joking about a Downing Street party at a mock press conference emerged.
Neil Ferguson
Professor Neil Ferguson quit as a government adviser after he received visits from his girlfriend.
In a statement, Prof Ferguson said: “I accept I made an error of judgement and took the wrong course of action.”
