Boris Johnson a coward for quitting to avoid byelection, says Angela Rayner
The Guardian Boris Johnson is a coward who has no respect for the 2019 Conservative voters who put their faith in him, Labours deputy leader has said, after he dramatically quit parliament before the findings of a cross-party investigation into whether he lied to the Commons had been published.,
The former prime minister resigned on Friday night after learning that an investigation into the Partygate scandal found he misled parliament, and he was likely to face a lengthy suspension from the Commons.
In a resentful statement Johnson said there was a witch-hunt under way, to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result, while accusing the investigation of acting as a kangaroo court.
Angela Rayner, Labours deputy leader, said he had jumped to avoid a potential byelection in his west London constituency.
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To me, he is a coward, she said. He knows that the privileges committee has seen through this fiasco and he has jumped. He could have defended himself, he could have gone to his constituents and fought the suspension, and he has decided he is not going to do that because he knows he is in the wrong.
