Colourful British MP sacked for lying about affair

By CAHAL MILMO

LONDON - Senior British Conservatives at the weekend appeared split over the decision to sack shadow arts minister Boris Johnson over claims he lied about an affair.

The flamboyant Tory MP was "relieved of his responsibilities" by Opposition leader Michael Howard on Sunday within two hours of learning of renewed allegations about Johnson's relationship with columnist and socialite Petronella Wyatt.

But as the deceptively bumbling Johnson, who is also editor of the Spectator, went into hiding to contemplate a return to the back benches, his former frontbench colleagues failed to provide unanimous support for their leader.

Nicholas Soames, the Tory defence spokesman and "great personal friend" of Johnson, refused to endorse the sacking and predicted a political comeback for the gaffe-prone editor of the influential right-wing magazine.

Soames said: "I'm very, very sad and sorry for Boris. It is a very bad moment.

"All I can say is Boris's political days are certainly not over. He is a very, very good member of Parliament."

Asked whether he would have dismissed Johnson, the shadow defence secretary added: "That is not a matter for me. That is a matter for the leader of my party."

Other senior Tories backed Howard, pointing out that the 40-year-old MP had not been sacked for any liaison but for a lack of candour.

When claims of an affair with Wyatt, 35, a former deputy editor of the Spectator and now columnist for the bible of the right, surfaced two weeks ago, Johnson, a father of four, dismissed them.

In typically colourful language, he said: "I have not had an affair with Petronella. It is complete balderdash. It is an inverted pyramid of piffle. It is all completely untrue and ludicrous conjecture."

But his position became untenable for the Tory hierarchy when the News of the World published claims from the mother of Wyatt, Lady Verushka Wyatt, that her daughter had become pregnant by Johnson and had an abortion last month after Johnson tried to rekindle the affair.

"It was just one of those things which happened, he came along and told her he still loved her," she said. "It was one of those accidents which happened which nobody really wanted to. That is the truth."

Petronella would never have began the relationship if Johnson had not said he was going to marry her, Wyatt added.

Michael Ancram, the Conservative deputy leader, said Howard, who earlier praised his arts spokesman for his political acumen, had been left with no choice.

Speaking on BBC1's Breakfast with Frost, Ancram said: "It was not about his private life and I think it is right that we don't necessarily intrude into people's private lives.

"It was about something more central than that ... where Boris was less than frank, that was what could not be sustained. In the end, Michael, when he realised Boris had not been frank with him, had to let him go."

Theresa May, the Tory spokeswoman on family issues, also supported the decision.

The Labour Party moved to exploit apparent Tory unease by suggesting Howard had over-reacted. Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary, said: "It does look something of an over-reaction by the leader of the Conservative Party."

Johnson had been rumoured to be on the verge of resignation from his junior frontbench post because of the burden of his multiple roles as an MP, shadow minister, magazine editor, guest columnist and contributor to BBC1's Have I Got News For You.

The claims of an affair came at the end of an uncomfortable month for the MP after a Spectator editorial accused Liverpudlians of wallowing in grief over the murder of the British hostage Ken Bigley.

Friends of Johnson, who also lost his role as a Tory party vice-chairman, said he was concentrating on saving his marriage.

There were also questions about his continued role at the Spectator. The magazine's owners, the Barclay brothers, are known to take a dim view of moral misconduct.

Rod Liddle, former editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme and now an associate editor of the Spectator, claimed Johnson's downfall had been engineered by rivals. Sky News reported Johnson had been staying at a friend's house in Camden for much of the week. As he arrived, he told waiting reporters to "bog off". Asked how he was feeling, he replied: "Tremendous, little short of superb. On cracking form."

- INDEPENDENT