Johnson is facing an investigation by the Privileges Committee into whether he lied to the Commons when he said he did not know of any Downing Street parties during the lockdown. It was assumed that the current members of the seven – four Tories, two Labor and one SNP MP – would conduct the investigation. However, two of the Tories are government aides and Labor leader Chris Bryant has withdrawn from the investigation because he had already said he believed Johnson should resign. With enormous pressure on lawmakers conducting the poll, the Tories have accepted that the inquiry must be undertaken by lawmakers who are not on the government’s payroll and are experienced enough not to seek preference for No. 10. Parliamentary rules stipulate that ministers should not be allowed to sit on committees, but this has been ignored in recent years. Some of the senior Tories in question include former Attorney General Sir Geoffrey Cox, former Secretary of Justice Sir Robert Buckland, a former member of the commission, former Secretary of Culture Maria Miller, and Jeremy Wright, another former Attorney General. From the Labor Party, Harriet Harman, the former deputy leader, is believed to have been arrested. Sir Bernard Jenkin, a current senior member of the committee, may remain in the body. However, Laura Farris and Alberto Costa, two government aides, will retire. However, Tory MPs in particular are reluctant to join the committee given the sensitivity and impact of their decision, which could lead to Johnson’s resignation if found to have deliberately misled the House of Commons. There is also the issue of finding candidates to join the committee who have not expressed an opinion on the Prime Minister’s behavior at Partygate. Wright, for example, has publicly expressed his view that Johnson should leave if he knowingly broke the law and therefore misled the Commons, and recently said that “he can see how a single mistake can be forgiven. even when done by a prime minister. “ The privileges committee will have a conservative majority with candidates selected by the party authorities. However, membership must be approved by the House of Commons, so elected members must gain the trust of a wide range of Tory supporters – including critics of the prime minister. A source familiar with the matter said that Tory MPs were trying to avoid his job of judging the prime minister, knowing it was a “poisoned chalice”. The commission will not begin examining evidence against Johnson until the Metropolitan Police’s investigations into the lockdown at No. 10 and Whitehall – who have already imposed a fine on the prime minister – are completed, as well as a Whitehall report from civil servant Sue Gray, to be released following the closure of the Met case. Some Conservatives have expressed skepticism that the commission is likely to report before the fall or even before the end of the year – given the time it takes for the Met to complete its investigation. Bryant told the BBC he believed Johnson would be forced to resign by the end of May, but No. 10 said he had no intention of resigning if he received more fines from the Met or if he was criticized in Gray’s report. In an exchange with Keir Starmer in January, the prime minister acknowledged that it was a precedent for ministers to resign if they were found to have misled parliament. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST
