MPs voted overwhelmingly to back a report that found Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over lockdown parties at Downing Street.

The vote was 354 to 7, with 225 MPs abstaining or not voting.

The report by the cross-party Privileges Committee found that Johnson had committed “repeated offences” when he said that Covid rules had been followed at No 10 at all times.

Several allies of Johnson had questioned the impartiality of the committee and said they would vote against the report. However, most Conservative MPs supported the report’s findings, including former Prime Minister Theresa May, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did not attend the debate and has refused to say how he would have voted.

The vote means that Johnson loses his right to a parliamentary pass, which gives access to certain parts of Parliament.

The report also found that Johnson had committed further “contempts” of Parliament by attacking the committee, increasing the severity of the recommended sanction.

The committee subsequently recommended a 90-day suspension for Johnson, as well as denying him the parliamentary pass. If he had still been an MP, the suspension could have triggered a by-election in his constituency. Boris stepped down as MP in September 2022.

The vote was seen as a symbolic way for Parliament to bring to a conclusion a difficult chapter in British politics.

The Liberal Democrats accused Sunak of “a cowardly cop-out” for not voting, while Labour said he was “too weak to lead a party too divided to govern.”

The report’s findings are a further blow to Johnson’s reputation, after he was fined by the police for attending one of the parties.

He has already resigned as Prime Minister, but the vote means that he will continue to face scrutiny for his actions.

Speaking during a Commons debate ahead of the vote, Mrs May said backing the report would be “a small but important step in restoring people’s trust” in Parliament.

It was “important to show the public that there is not one rule for them and another for us”, she said.

Mrs May urged her fellow MPs to vote in support of the report “to uphold standards in public life, to show that we all recognise the responsibility we have to the people we serve, and to help to restore faith in our parliamentary democracy”.

The Sunday Mirror newspaper’s published a video showing staffers drinking and dancing at a pre-christmas event at Conservative Party headquarters in December 2020, during the time people from different households were banned from mixing indoors.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said that it was examining footage of the event, which the BBC reported was billed as a “jingle and mingle” Christmas party.

Boris Johnson was found to have misled MPs and Parliament on several occasions about parties held at Downing Street during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December 2021, Johnson told Parliament that “all guidance was followed completely in No 10”. However, it was later revealed that there had been a number of parties held at Downing Street in breach of the COVID-19 rules.
In January 2022, Johnson told Parliament that “there was no party” on 18 December 2020. However, it was later revealed that there had been a party at Downing Street on that date, which Johnson attended.
In April 2022, Johnson told Parliament that he “was not aware of any parties” that took place in Downing Street during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was later revealed that Johnson was aware of at least some of the parties.

The Privileges Committee of MPs found that Johnson’s statements to Parliament were “deliberately misleading” and that he had “repeatedly” broken the ministerial code. The committee also found that Johnson had “failed to uphold the standards of conduct expected of a minister”.

As a result of the committee’s findings, Johnson lost his right to a parliamentary pass and was recommended to be suspended from Parliament for 90 days. However, Johnson had already resigned as Prime Minister before the committee’s report was published.