Boost for Boris as Gove admits he won’t vote for the ‘excessive’ Partygate probe’s punishment 

Boris Johnson received a boost on the eve of the Commons passing judgment on the Partygate probe – after even his old rival Michael Gove branded its punishment excessive.

The Levelling Up Secretary – who ended Mr Johnson’s 2016 leadership bid and was sacked by him for disloyalty a year ago – revealed he would not support the privileges committee’s report today.

He is one of many ministers expected to miss the debate and abstain from the vote, which is likely to see the former prime minister banned from having a parliamentary pass.

It would also have seen him suspended for 90 days for misleading MPs over lockdown gatherings in No 10 had he not already quit.

Mr Gove told the BBC yesterday: ‘I have read the whole report. There are parts of it that I think are excellent work. I don’t agree with the conclusion however, personally.’

Mr Gove told the BBC yesterday: ‘I have read the whole report. There are parts of it that I think are excellent work. I don’t agree with the conclusion however, personally’

The vote would also have Boris Johnson suspended for 90 days for misleading MPs over lockdown gatherings in No 10 had he not already quit

Signalling his view that the commitee’s punishment was excessive, he added: ‘I think the decision to impose a 90-day penalty is not merited by the evidence the committee has put forward.’ Asked if he will vote for it, he replied: ‘I will not vote, I will abstain.’ Mr Gove also pointed out that ‘it is Boris’s sincere belief he was assured the rules were followed’.

He added: ‘I understand there is a desire for what was a complex and flawed execution of policy within No 10, to be summed up in one word, but the reason the privileges committee took their time and issued a report at such length is that there are complexities there.’

Mr Gove is not the only member of the Cabinet expected to miss today’s debate, which takes place on Mr Johnson’s 59th birthday and the third anniversary of the surprise birthday party he was fined by police for attending. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to hold talks in Downing Street with his Swedish counterpart at the time of the vote instead, while Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is also expected to abstain.

One of Mr Johnson’s main supporters, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, will not be there either after he privately urged his allies not to oppose the motion to approve the scathing report

One of Mr Johnson’s main supporters, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, will not be there either after he privately urged his allies not to oppose the motion to approve the scathing report.

Veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash vowed to vote against it on the grounds the committee had unfairly changed the rules by deciding it did not need to prove Mr Johnson had knowingly misled the Commons in order to find him in contempt.

Red Wall Tory Brendan Clarke-Smith, MP for Bassetlaw, said he would vote against the report because of the unfair way it treated the ex-PM.

He told GB News: ‘It’s not about Boris making some big comeback. It’s about someone being able to leave office with dignity. We think what he’s been subjected to is very unfair.’

Six-and-a-half hours had originally been allocated for the debate, which will start after 3.30pm, but it will now be just 90 minutes.