BORIS Johnson was yesterday slammed by his own anti-sleaze boss over Partygate. Lord Christopher Geidt said the PM may have “breached the ministerial code” — which is usually a resignation offence. In a blistering report, he said he told Mr Johnson’s team to spell out how the behaviour which led to a lockdown fine did […]
BORIS Johnson was yesterday slammed by his own anti-sleaze boss over Partygate.
Lord Christopher Geidt said the PM may have “breached the ministerial code” — which is usually a resignation offence.
In a blistering report, he said he told Mr Johnson’s team to spell out how the behaviour which led to a lockdown fine did not flout the rules.
Hinting he could quit, Lord Geidt said if the PM claims “there is nothing to investigate or no case to answer” then he would be “forcing the resignation of the Independent Adviser”.
The scathing attack by Lord Geidt — the Queen’s former Private Secretary — is a major blow to the PM on the eve of the Platinum Jubilee.
The PM insisted he “is in no doubt” of the importance of the code and denied breaking it.
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He said he should not have to quit after being fined because Labour’s Harriet Harman did not resign when she admitted driving without due care and attention while a minister in 2010.
Meanwhile Tory MP John Stevenson called for a leadership vote to “draw a line” under the No10 dramas.
And former leadership contender Andrea Leadsom savaged the PM’s “failure of leadership” in a letter to a constituent.
If 54 Tories write letters demanding a confidence vote, Mr Johnson could be toppled less than three years after becoming PM.
Ex-Tory leader William Hague said Mr Johnson is in “real trouble”.
He added: “The fuse is getting closer to the dynamite here and it’s speeding up.”
Asked if the PM can survive, Business Minister George Freeman said: “I just don’t know.”
Of the PM’s bruised reputation, he added: “He didn’t stand as the patron saint of virtue”.
