Boris Johnson has announced he is standing down as the Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

The former prime minister’s resignation comes after the Privileges Committee recommended a suspension from parliament of more than ten days.

This sanction, which is outlined in the committee’s draft report, would have been enough to have triggered a by-election.

Mr Johnson previously was Henley's MP between 2001 and 2008 and this shock resignation will only fuel speculation that he may run for the seat, which will soon be vacant.

READ MORE: Timetable for Henley MP Conservative candidate unknown

In Mr Johnson's resignation statement, he said: "They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons.

"They know perfectly well that when I spoke in the Commons I was saying what I believed sincerely to be true and what I had been briefed to say, like any other minister."

READ MORE: Boris Johnson refuses to talk to press outside Oxfordshire home

Mr Johnson has described the committee as a "kangaroo court" and said his faith in the "impartiality of our systems" had been "misplaced".

Mr Johnson said: “I am being forced out by a tiny handful of people, with no evidence to back up their assertions, and without approval even of Conservative party members let alone the wider electorate."

“I believe that a dangerous and unsettling precedent is being set.”

Mr Johnson has served as Uxbridge and South Ruislip's MP since 2015. 

There is speculation that Mr Johnson may run for the Henley seat after MP John Howell announced earlier this year that he would not be standing again at the next election.

READ MORE: Olympic rower James Cracknell in running to be Henley MP

In a hint that Mr Johnson may choose to re-run again for parliament and potentially contest the Henley seat, he said: "It is very sad to be leaving parliament - at least for now."

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Mr Johnson has been approached for comment as to whether he intends to stand as the Conservative Party's parliamentary candidate for Henley.

Members of the South Oxfordshire Conservative Association will choose who the Conservative Party's candidate will be for the Henley seat.

The association has not yet set out a timetable for when the successful candidate is likely to be chosen by.

Recently, the Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell told the Telegraph that he had entered the race to be the Conservative Party's candidate for the seat at the next general election.

READ MORE: Boris Johnson moves into £3.8 million Oxfordshire mansion

Mr Johnson also recently moved to Oxfordshire and lives at Brightwell Manor in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell with his family after he paid £3.8 million for the grade II listed property, according to national reports.

In what appears to be a dig at prime minister Rishi Sunak, Mr Johnson's statement said: “Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do.

“We need to cut business and personal taxes – and not just as pre-election gimmicks – rather than endlessly putting them up.”

In what is likely to be interpreted as another attack on Mr Sunak's performance as leader, he said: "When I left office last year the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls.

"That gap has now massively widened."

Mr Johnson has two weeks to respond to the Privileges Committee and is determined to fight their verdict.

His legal team is currently drawing up a response and the report is in draft at the moment so the sanction could change.

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Ed specialises in writing political stories for the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times. 

He joined in the team in February 2023, after completing a History undergraduate degree at the University of York and studying for his NCTJ diploma in London.

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