Grant Shapps asserted after Boris Johnson’s shocking resignation on Friday that “the world has moved on” from him.
By announcing his immediate departure and resignation from his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, Mr. Johnson stunned his party.
Despite the former PM’s criticism of the Privileges Committee and its forthcoming Partygate investigation, Mr. Shapps told Sky News that Mr. Johnson was “perfectly entitled” to continue serving as an MP but chose to resign instead.
The Energy Secretary added: “I liked working with him as Prime Minister, but the world has moved on.
“He is the one who’s removed himself from the current political scene, standing down as a member of Parliament.”
Johnson stated in his resignation letter on Friday that a House of Commons investigation will find him guilty in the Partygate scandal.
He continued by saying there had been a “witch hunt” among certain Tory MPs who regarded his ouster as a crucial first step toward undoing Brexit and then expressed his sadness at leaving Parliament “for the time being.”
Sir Jake Berry, a close associate of the previous prime minister, said that the “establishment” controlled politics rather than the will of the people. When asked if he agreed, Mr. Shapps responded, “No, actually in the end Boris was quite right to continue as an MP.
“He has decided to step down and a couple of my other colleagues, all of them whom I’ve worked with and Boris in particular, I liked working with him as prime minister.
“But … the world has moved on. He is the one who has removed himself from the current political scene, standing down as a member of Parliament.
“We’ve got excellent leadership in place in No 10 with Rishi Sunak.”
Mr Johnson’s former Downing Street communications director, Guto Harri, said he now expects his former boss to “lick his wounds” and that the resignations are not “part of an elaborate plot to sort of destabilise and topple” Mr Sunak.
