Boris Johnson “deliberately” lied to Britain’s parliament several times over partygate, a parliamentary commission of inquiry concluded on Thursday in a report that has already prompted the former prime minister to resign as an MP Reuters and Agerpres.

The former Tory leader, who will soon turn 59, was last week handed the damning findings of a 14-month investigation into parties held at 10 Downing Street during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Johnson then resigned with a bang, denouncing a “witch hunt” and attacking Rishi Sunak, the current Conservative prime minister.

“The commission found no evidence” against us, Boris Johnson responded in a long, extremely aggressive statement in which he confirmed he did not believe he had done anything wrong and accused the commission of “lies” and “sick” findings, which wanted to give “the last stab at political murder”.

As he is no longer a member of the House of Commons, Boris Johnson is taking no chances. The report noted that if Johnson had not resigned, the privileges commission would have recommended a 90-day suspension, a very severe sanction that would likely trigger a midterm election in his district.

Boris Johnson, accused by the parliament of “undermining” the democratic process

As well as being accused of lying to Parliament, the report also said the former prime minister “undermined the democratic process” and was “complicit” in a “campaign of intimidation” by the benefits commission. The document, which has yet to be voted on by MPs, still calls for revoking Johnson’s access to parliament, which is usually granted to former prime ministers.

A year after he stepped down as prime minister, his departure from parliament now prevents the former journalist and London mayor from returning to power pending a possible re-election in the legislature scheduled for next year.

Boris Johnson has reignited infighting in the Conservative Party, where he has powerful allies and retains an important aura among voters thanks to his historic 2019 parliamentary victory and the implementation of Brexit.

Even if he remains in the limelight of politicians and the media, his real capacity to cause turbulence remains uncertain: neither attempts to return to power nor attempts to lead the ranks against the government on certain projects have so far been successful.

While some feared that a wave of parliamentary defections would weaken Rishi Sunak’s government, only two MPs followed Boris Johnson’s lead and resigned last week.