Boris Johnson looked deeply uncomfortable just one hour into his hearing in front of the Parliamentary Privileges Committee on Wednesday – and it’s expected to go on for several more hours yet.
The former prime minister has been hauled in front of fellow MPs as part of their investigation into whether or not Johnson deliberately misled parliament over partygate.
Back in December 2021, Downing Street was first reported to have been holding social gatherings which broke the then-lockdown rules at the height of the pandemic.
Johnson told his colleagues no rules had been broken and the guidance was always followed.
Following a report from senior civil servant Sue Gray and a Metropolitan Police criminal investigation, Johnson and current PM Rishi Sunak were both fined for breaching the Covid measures in 2022.
MPs then turned their focus solely onto Johnson in a parliamentary investigation which puts the ex-PM’s political career on the rocks.
Within an hour of the hearing – expected to last up to four or five hours – the Tory MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip was already interrupting those questioning him and raising his voice.
In fact, some political commentators thought his performance was more than just unfortunate for Johnson.
Meanwhile, it’s not clear that the revival of partygate is doing any favours for Johnson’s reputation.
On Wednesday, YouGov released a poll showing 72% of the British public think Johnson is dishonest.
And Twitter seemed equally disillusioned...