Johnson Urged To Tell Truth' As He Faces Partygate Probe

Poll finds 67% of voters want ex-PM to stand down over affair

- Adam Forrest Kate Devlin

Boris Johnson has been urged to "tell the truth" and "be serious for once" at this week's Partygate grilling, as Tory MPs fear the televised hearing risks reigniting Tory psychodrama after a good few weeks for Rishi Sunak.

The former Conservative PM is fighting to save his career as he hunkers down with his legal team to prepare for Wednesday's four-hour showdown on whether he lied to parliament about his knowledge of rule-breaking parties during Covid.

As Mr Johnson prepared to hand over a 50-page dossier to counter the privileges committee's initial report which found rule breaches would have been "obvious" to him:

• Senior Tory MPs told The Independent it would be unwise for Mr Johnson to try to attack the committee or former civil servant Sue Gray on Wednesday - urging him to "cooperate" and answer honestly
• Johnson allies attempted to undermine the inquiry, calling it a "McCarthyite witchhunt" and put pressure on four Tory MPs on the committee to quit
• An exclusive new poll for The Independent has found two in three voters think the ex-Tory leader should stand down as an MP if the parliamentary probe finds that he misled parliament

Some 67 per cent of voters say Mr Johnson shouldn't wait to be punished and should quit his seat if he is found to have lied, according to the Savanta survey. Some 21 per cent believe he should stay on, regardless of the committee's finding.

The ex-PM faces a possible by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency if he is found to have broken rules but he still hopes he can clear his name and stage an unlikely return to No 10. Allies of Mr Johnson claim that he will provide a "detailed and compelling" account to the committee before his appearance, showing that he "did not knowingly mislead the House".