Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that he will be stepping down as a Conservative MP immediately.
Johnson, who resigned as UK prime minister after a wave of government resignations almost one year ago, released a statement announcing that he was quitting while also accusing his enemies of trying to "drive him out"
The now disgraced former PM has opted to jump ship prior to being pushed out after he received the results of a commons probe into whether he lied to MPs about Partygate.
READ MORE: Carol Vorderman slams 'disgusting' and 'robbing' Boris Johnson as he resigns as MP
If it was found by the Commons Privileges Committee that he misled parliament then he could have been suspended. The ex-PM was handed the committee's report earlier this week.
If a ban of 10 days or more occurred, then a by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, where Labour has been eying his 7,210-strong majority, would have almost certainly been triggered.
However, the now-former MP has hinted that he may be leaving the door open for a potential comeback by announcing that he was leaving parliament, "at least for now".
In a lengthy statement, the former PM alleged the Commons Privileges Committee had "not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons".
He also claimed that the committee was "determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament".
Mr Johnson said: "'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."
Meanwhile, Johnson is also facing a fresh police investigation after officials handed over evidence to authorities of possible rule-breaking that the 58-year-old had submitted to the Covid-19 inquiry.
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