Ex-MP Rory Stewart says Prime Minister ‘must go’ over Partygate

A former Penrith and the Border Conservative MP says the Prime Minister “must go” over Partygate.

Rory Stewart’s comments come after it was confirmed that the Prime Minister and Chancellor were issued with fixed penalty notices after attending a lockdown-breaking event in Downing Street.

Mr Stewart served as the MP for Penrith and the Border between 2010 and 2019 before standing down to run for the London Mayoralty.

He was kicked out of the Tory party a month before his resignation as an MP after he voted alongside 20 other rebels in favour of the Benn act which would have blocked a no-deal Brexit and obliged the Prime Minister to request an extension to article 50.

Tweeting last night, Mr Stewart said: The key point is not that Boris Johnson received a penalty notice. The key point is that the fine proves he has repeatedly lied to parliament about his actions during COVID. Democracy requires – for voting for accountability – leaders who tell the truth. He must go.”

The key point is not that Boris Johnson received a penalty notice.
The key point is that the fine proves he has repeatedly lied to parliament about his actions during COVID.
Democracy requires – for voting for accountability – leaders who tell the truth.
He must go.
— Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) April 12, 2022

Meanwhile, Workington’s Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson has defended the Prime Minister.

He said in a tweet last night: “The left wants to bring down a democratically-elected government over a birthday cake widely reported at the time the PM is delivering for Britain.

“Just imagine the state we’d be in under Sir Keir Starmer – still masked, locked down, and him fighting his own party to support Ukraine.”

The fine calls into question comments made by the Prime Minister to MPs in December.

He told the House of Commons: “I repeat that I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken.”