Boris Johnson stands down as MP with immediate effect

Boris Johnson has announced he is standing down as an MP with immediate effect after receiving the report into whether he lied to MPs over partygate.

In a 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”.

As a result, Mr Johnson said: “I have written to my association in Uxbridge and South Ruislip to say that I am stepping down forthwith and triggering an immediate by-election.

“I am very sorry to leave my wonderful constituency. It has been a huge honour to serve them, both as Mayor and MP.”

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.

The SNP said Mr Johnson “jumped before he was pushed” while Labour said he is resigning “in disgrace”.

In his statement, the ex-prime minister said the committee “have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons”.

“They know perfectly well that when I spoke in the Commons I was saying what I believed sincerely to be true and what I had been briefed to say, like any other minister.”

He claimed their purpose “from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts” and that there is a “witch hunt underway, to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result”.

“I am now being forced out of parliament by a tiny handful of people, with no evidence to back up their assertions, and without the approval even of Conservative party members let alone the wider electorate.”

Mr Johnson also used his statement to deliver a stinging attack on Rishi Sunak’s government.

“When I left office last year the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls. That gap has now massively widened,” he said.

“Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk. Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do.”