Boris Johnson has been stripped of his parliamentary pass for repeatedly lying to the House of Commons over partygate.
MPs voted 354 to 7 to support last week’s privileges committee’s report which found him guilty of misleading parliament by insisting lockdown rules were followed in Downing Street during the pandemic.
Johnson resigned as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip 10 days ago after seeing an advance copy of the committee’s report.
Had he remained an MP, the committee said it would have recommended he be suspended from the Commons for 90 days.
Johnson described the inquiry as a “kangaroo court” and claimed he was the victim of a political stitch-up.
But following a five-hour debate, an overwhelming majority of MPs voted to back the committee’s findings, including the recommendation that Johnson should have the parliamentary pass given to former MPs removed.
The debate also exposed the deep splits within the Tories over their former leader, with around 200 of the party’s MPs - including prime minister Rishi Sunak - abstaining by failing to take part in the vote.
Some 118 Tory MPs voted to back the committee’s findings, including cabinet ministers Alex Chalk, Penny Mordaunt Gillian Keegan, and former PM Theresa May.
The Tories who voted against the committee’s report were Joy Morrisey, Karl McCartney, Adam Holloway, Heather Wheeler, Nick Fletcher and Bill Cash.
In a bizarre interview this morning, Sunak repeatedly refused to say what he thought of the report, insisting he “wouldn’t want to influence” any MPs on how to vote.
Meanwhile, the prime minister’s official spokesman said he was too busy with other engagements, including hosting the prime minister of Sweden, to attend parliament.
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Tonight Rishi Sunak committed a cowardly cop-out. His failure to vote says all you need to know about this prime minister’s lack of leadership.
“Sunak promised integrity yet when push came to shove, he was too weak to even turn up.”