British MPs on Monday voted overwhelmingly to remove former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's parliamentary pass as they approved a damning report that found he lied to parliament about COVID lockdown-breaking parties, AFP reports.
Following hours of debate, MPs voted by 354 to seven in favor of the Privileges Committee's findings, with many Conservatives, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, abstaining.
During the debate, MPs and a former Prime Minister lined up to urge colleagues to censure Johnson, who quit parliament earlier this month when he was informed of the findings.
Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, said the vote would be "a small but important step in restoring people's trust" in parliament.
In a 106-page report last week, the Privileges Committee found Johnson guilty of "repeated contempts (of parliament) and... seeking to undermine the parliamentary process".
There was "no precedent for a prime minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House", it added, according to AFP.
By pre-emptively resigning, Johnson thwarted the committee's recommendation to suspend him as an MP for 90 days, which could have led to him facing a daunting re-election battle.
Instead, the committee could only recommend that his parliamentary pass be withdrawn, denying him one privilege normally offered to ex-members.
Johnson resigned as Conservative party leader last July, amid resignations by several of his ministers.
He contemplated running for the party leadership again after his successor, Liz Truss, resigned less than two months after taking office, but ultimately decided against it.