Calls for investigations into Johnson to continue despite his pledge to resign

Investigations into Boris Johnson’s conduct must continue even after his departure as prime minister, politicians have urged.

Opposition MPs said trust in politics was badly damaged during his premiership and that the public still deserve answers about the scandals he was embroiled in.

Johnson is being investigated for having potentially misled parliament in statements he has made in the House of Commons about alleged breaches of lockdown rules in Downing Street.

The prime minister, who was fined by the police for attending a party at No 10, had previously told MPs no lockdown rules had been broken.

This inquiry by the Commons Privileges Committee is separate to ones carried out by the Metropolitan Police and senior civil servant Sue Gray into partygate.

Parliament’s intelligence and security committee is investigating Johnson giving Russian media mogul Evgeny Lebedev a peerage despite concerns raised by MI5 about his father being a KGB spy.

Johnson has also faced claims that he tried to appoint his wife Carrie to a £100,000-a-year job in the Foreign Office in 2018 when she was his girlfriend.

Meanwhile, families who lost loved ones during the Covid-19 pandemic, believe that Johnson should still be held to account at the public inquiry into the UK’s handling of the pandemic to be held next year.

Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader and chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: “Boris Johnson is embroiled in political scandals that are still unresolved.

“Johnson needs to be investigated on a number of fronts.” She added: “It would be shameful for his resignation to become the escape hatch from these investigations. We cannot allow that to happen.

“The public need a change of government, but they also need answers and closure.”

Ian Murray, Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary, said: “Johnson’s fate as Prime Minister may be sealed, but he is accountable to the people for his actions in office.

“And he will also remain as an elected Tory MP.

“During his tenure, trust in politics has repeatedly been called into question, so it is right and proper that investigations continue.”

Kirsten Oswald MP, the SNP’s Westminster deputy leader, said: “As he attempts to shamefully cling on to his job for as long as he can, the ongoing investigations into some of these cases are important and cannot be brushed under the carpet.”