Former British PM Johnson stands down as MP

LONDON -- Former British prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Friday he is stepping down as a Member of Parliament (MP) with immediate effect.

Johnson has been under investigation by the cross-party Committee of Privileges in the House of Commons, the lower house of the British Parliament, over whether he made misleading statements to Parliament about the Partygate scandal.

He said he had received a letter from the "privileges committee making it clear -- much to my amazement -- that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament."

"I am being forced out by a tiny handful of people, with no evidence to back up their assertions, and without approval even of Conservative party members, let alone the wider electorate," Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson was fined by the Metropolitan Police in April last year for attending rule-breaking parties during the COVID-19 lockdown. He was forced to resign as Prime Minister in July last year over a string of scandals, including the Partygate.

When revelations of the parties at Downing Street in 2020 and 2021 first emerged in late 2021, Johnson initially said that no rules had been broken. He later apologized and said that he mistook those parties for work events. In evidence given to the Committee of Privileges in March, Johnson admitted misleading Parliament, but denied doing it on purpose.

His resignation will trigger a by-election in his west London seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.