UK PM Rishi Sunak’s stinging blow to Boris Johnson’s knighthood bid for his father

Rishi Sunak has delivered a big blow to Boris Johnson’s bid to give his father a knighthood, after the former UK prime minister sparked more controversy.

Rishi Sunak has delivered a blow to Boris Johnson’s bid to give his father a knighthood, saying he would never nominate a family member for an honour.

The UK PM said his dad was “going to get a card on Fathers’ Day – and that is about that”.

Mr Johnson had put his father Stanley forward for a knighthood, according to a report slammed by the Labour opposition as “outrageous”.

The Times newspaper reported that the former Conservative leader, who left office last September, had nominated Stanley as part of his resignation honours list.

The list reportedly includes the nominations of several allies for membership of the House of Lords, the appointed upper house of the British parliament, where Boris Johnson appointed his younger brother Jo in 2020.

Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson reportedly has put his father forward for a knighthood. Picture: Getty

“The idea that Boris Johnson is nominating his dad for a knighthood - you only need to say it to realise just how ridiculous it is,” Labour leader Keir Starmer said on LBC Radio.

“It’s classic of a man like Johnson. I mean, I think the public will just think this is absolutely outrageous,” he said, also querying what Stanley Johnson had done to deserve a knighthood.

The reported list poses a political headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who must sign off on his predecessor’s controversial choices and is trying to keep Johnson loyalists on side.

Mr Sunak’s spokesman said the report was “speculative”, while stressing: “Longstanding rules guard the honours process and there are no plans to change that.”

Stanley Johnson could be getting a knighthood. Picture: Getty

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Picture: Getty

Asked if she would have a problem with the appointment, senior Minister Michelle Donelan told LBC: “I think there are bigger fish to fry, to be honest.”

Stanley Johnson would be a controversial pick also because of accusations of sexual harassment against two women, and domestic abuse against his former wife, Boris’s mother.

Johnson senior has denied any wrongdoing.

A former member of the European parliament, the father voted to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, when his son led the campaign to leave.

But Stanley Johnson has since expressed support for Brexit, and was accused of hypocrisy after securing French nationality last year.

The knighthood speculation comes after UK MPs announced they will question Mr Johnson over whether he lied about “Partygate”, in a probe that could trigger his removal as a member of parliament.

In an interim report released after eight months of work, parliament’s watchdog privileges committee said the evidence so far undermined his pleas of innocence to the House of Commons.

Mr Johnson could be ousted from parliament over ‘Partygate’ claims. Picture: AFP

“The evidence strongly suggests that breaches of (Covid lockdown) guidance would have been obvious to Mr Johnson at the time he was at the gatherings,” the report stated.

Described as a summary of the investigation ahead of Mr Johnson’s questioning, it added “there is evidence that the House of Commons may have been misled” on several occasions.

The committee said the ex-Conservative leader had agreed to give public evidence in the week beginning March 20.

Mr Johnson, who resigned as prime minister last summer after “Partygate” and other scandals, insisted the report vindicated him.

“There’s absolutely nothing to show that any Adviser of mine or civil servant warned me in advance that events might be against the rules,” he told broadcasters.

“I believed what we were doing was implicitly within the rules.”

Mr Johnson repeatedly denied in parliament that he or his staff had breached his own Covid lockdown laws by holding boozy gatherings in Downing Street.

But police issued fines to dozens of aides after a criminal probe, and Mr Johnson became the first serving UK prime minister found to have broken the law over one of the gatherings.