Boris Johnson has been accused of breaking Commons financial rules so many times it has become “a pattern of behaviour”, after failing to declare a 20% financial interest in property in Somerset within the required time limit.
The latest find was published in a damning report by the Commons Standards Committee on Monday.
The former foreign secretary was recently found guilty of late registration of financial interests on nine other occasions.
The standards watchdog said today: “I do not accept that this was an inadvertent breach of the rules.
“Mr Johnson has co-operated fully with my inquiry, but his failure to check properly that he had brought his Register entry up to date during my last inquiry might be regarded as showing a lack of respect for the House’s rules and for the standards system.
“That does not demonstrate the leadership, which one would expect of a longstanding and senior Member of the House, nor compliance with the general principles of conduct.”
The committee said while the likely Tory leadership hopeful had not tried to “deliberately to conceal” his financial interests, he displayed “an over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules” as well as lacking “effective organisation”.
It warned that if Johnson broke the rules again it would demand “serious” action be taken against him.
Jon Trickett MP, Labour’s shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, attacked Johnson’s “façade of buffoonery”.
“Mr Johnson has to realise that these rules are in place to strengthen democracy and ensure the interests of MPs are transparent. He cannot simply run roughshod over them,” he said.
“The report notes his lack of leadership in following the rules, which does not bode well should he have ambitions to topple Theresa May.”