Johnson ally claims he will not get fair hearing at Partygate inquiry

Despite committee being Tory-majority, Conor Burns says tweet by Harriet Harman proves it has ‘predetermined’ Johnson’s guilt

Boris Johnson will not get a fair hearing from the cross-party privileges committee because some of the MPs on it seem to “have predetermined their view” on his guilt, an ally of the former prime minister has argued ahead of a week that could spell the end of Johnson’s parliamentary career.

The Bournemouth West MP, Conor Burns, who served as a minister under Johnson, told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour that Harriet Harman, the Labour MP who is chairing the Conservative-majority committee, had previously said she believed Johnson had misled the Commons.