A former cabinet minister has become the latest Tory MP to publicly call on Boris Johnson to step down following the partygate scandal.
Jeremy Wright, who was culture secretary and attorney general under Theresa May, posted a statement on his website saying ‘accountability and restoring faith in good government’ required more than an apology and the departure of civil servants if the government were to hold its elections. promises.
“It now seems to me that keeping the prime minister in office will hamper these crucial goals,” he wrote.
“I have therefore, with regret, concluded that, for the sake of this government and the future, the Prime Minister should resign.”
He becomes the 25th Tory MP to ask Mr Johnson to resign after the Prime Minister was fined by Met Police in April for a lockdown-breaking party, according to a tally of Sky News MPs.
Mr Wright did not reveal whether he sent a letter of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs, who must receive 54 letters before a vote of confidence can be called.
However, he is likely to have done so after publicly calling on the prime minister to leave.
The drip feed of Tory MPs calling for Mr Johnson’s resignation has continued steadily since the Sue Gray report was published last Wednesday, with many questioning the Prime Minister’s explanation that he was not considering rallies like parties and just considered them business events.
A former barrister and MP for Kenilworth and Southam since 2005, Mr Wright previously said Mr Johnson should leave if it turns out he knowingly attended parties breaking the rules.
Like many Tories, he said he would make a judgment after Met Police and Sue Gray released their investigations into the events, the first ending two weeks ago and the second last Wednesday.
In his statement, Mr Wright said he had taken some time to reflect on the findings of the inquiry and so far he believed the Prime Minister had not knowingly misled Parliament when he said he had not broken any laws, as he said there was no evidence in Ms Gray’s case. report he made and he accepts that the Prime Minister did not know at the time that he was breaking the rules for the impromptu birthday for which he was fined.
But he said it’s ‘not just the prime minister’s own legal culpability’ that is relevant, as the prime minister has been questioned in parliament about others breaking the rules, to which he said all guidelines had been followed – but the Met and Ms Gray found otherwise.
He said he did not believe it had yet been proven that Mr Johnson had knowingly misled Parliament, but said the debate over it and the investigations into the alleged parties had had a “corrosive effect “.
“In my opinion, there is clear evidence that he was negligent,” he wrote.
“I believe he could and should have done more to ensure that the assurances he had received, and which he was in turn giving to Parliament, were indeed correct.”
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