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Partygate: What happens now Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have been fined

By:   []

Date: 2022-04 

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are to be fined for their attendance of lockdown-breaking parties, Number 10 told reporters today.

The prime minister and chancellor are among 50 people to receive fines for illegal Downing Street parties so far, although police have yet to conclude their investigation and this number could rise.

People who breach coronavirus restrictions are given a fixed penalty notice (FPN) – a relatively low-level punishment that is handed out without the need for anyone to go to court. Instead, they can contest their innocence by refusing to pay the fine. Some 124,626 COVID-related FPNs have been issued to the public in the last two years.

The government had previously said it would not disclose the names of any ministers who were fined for attending Downing Street parties, making Sunak’s public identification by the prime minister’s spokesperson something of a surprise.

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Here’s what could happen next to Johnson and Sunak.

Can they be kicked out of Parliament?

MPs are forced to immediately step down only if convicted of a serious matter – typically at least six months in jail. This fine falls way short of that.

But Parliament also has the power to trigger a ‘recall petition’ for either a criminal conviction or anything the Standards Committee deems to be misconduct. That is a lengthy process, though, and can take months or years. Even then, it ultimately depends on enough people living in their constituency signing a recall petition.
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