A parliamentary committee has released its long-anticipated report on what drove Boris Johnson out of politics—and it was as damaging as expected. The report centers on “Partygate,” a series of boozy gatherings hosted at No. 10 Downing Street during Johnson’s tenure as prime minister, while the U.K. was in the throes of COVID-19 lockdowns. The committee concluded that Johnson misled Parliament on several occasions by claiming he had followed the lockdown rules, a grave offense for U.K. politicians. A glimpse of a draft version of the report, which recommended a 10-day suspension for the ex-PM, convinced Johnson to resign as a member of Parliament last Friday—and the version released on Thursday called for an even steeper 90-day suspension. From his political exile, Johnson has called the report “a charade,” “a witch hunt,” and a “kangaroo court,” and has hinted at a potential, if unlikely, return to politics.
