• MPs warned not to speak out about inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled MPs.
• Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries called it a “witch hunt” and an attempt to win a by-election.
• Commons Privileges Committee has come under fire from Tory MPs over its investigation.

The government’s chief whip has warned Conservative MPs not to speak out about an investigation into whether Boris Johnson misled MPs about Partygate.

It comes after allies of the outgoing Prime Minister called the Commons Privileges Committee investigation a “witch hunt” and “rigged.”

The investigation will look into whether he obstructed Parliament by telling it that pandemic rules were followed.

It is possible that Mr Johnson will be suspended from the Commons.

After a series of media revelations about events in and around No. 10 during the Covid restrictions, Parliament voted in April to launch the investigation.

Mr Johnson has pledged to cooperate with the investigation and previously stated that he has “absolutely nothing, frankly, to hide.”

A committee spokesperson stated that the committee had not “prejudiced” any aspect of its investigation and that the parliamentary officials advising it were politically impartial.

If Mr Johnson is suspended from the Commons for more than 10 days, he may have to face a by-election to keep his seat.

The cross-party committee has a Tory majority, but has recently come under fire from the prime minister’s Conservative allies.

The remarks came after the committee decided it would not have to prove Mr Johnson intentionally misled MPs in order to prove he obstructed Parliament’s work.

Nadine Dorries, a Johnson supporter and Culture Secretary, said on Sunday that the “Machiavellian” inquiry was “the means to a by-election” and urged Tory MPs to “have no part in it.”