Boris Johnson quits as MP as he accuses partygate probe of trying to drive him out

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced he is to leave Parliament, hitting out at critics.

Mr Johnson is resigning as an MP after accusing a Commons investigation into whether he misled Parliament over partygate of attempting to “drive me out”.

The former prime minister, in a statement to the media, compared the Privileges Committee probe to a “kangaroo court” as he announced his intention to step down as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

He said, after receiving a letter from the committee, he believed it was “determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of Parliament”.

“It is very sad to be leaving Parliament – at least for now – but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically, by a committee chaired and managed, by Harriet Harman, with such egregious bias,” he said.