Northumberland Conservative MP speaks out against Boris Johnson after privileges report vote

Guy Opperman was the only Tory MP from the region to back the report of the privileges committee into Mr Johnson and Partygate, which found the former Prime Minister had repeatedly misled parliament about lockdown parties at Downing Street.

Just seven MPs backed Mr Johnson and voted against the report, while 118 Conservatives voted for it (354 MPs in total) and the majority from the party – 225 – followed current PM Rishi Sunak’s choice to avoid the House of Commons and had no vote recorded.

Mr Opperman, who was first elected as MP for Hexham in 2010, issued a short statement on social media explaining his decision. He wrote: “I voted to accept the Privileges Committee Report this evening.

“I have read the report in full. It is not acceptable to mislead the House of Commons, whoever the person, whatever the surrounding circumstances. The House of Commons is more important than all of us.”

Mr Opperman declined to provide any further comment when contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. His fellow Northumberland MPs Ian Levy, who represents Blyth Valley, and Anne-Marie Trevelyan of Berwick, did not register a vote.

The county’s only Labour MP, Wansbeck’s Ian Lavery, voted for the report after accusing Mr Johnson of being a “pound shop Winston Churchill tribute act” upon the publication of the damning report last week.

Mr Johnson previously branded the findings of the committee “rubbish” and said it was a “dreadful day for MPs and democracy”.