![\"Boris](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/d705c2b0c4e849f6849c0d12e1a433840ed97799\/1312_274_1075_645\/master\/1075.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=cf954a1513f365017220369cd126964d\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The seven-strong committee, which has a Tory majority and Labour chair, will regroup at 11am on Monday to finalise the conclusion to their year-long inquiry. They are likely to speed up the the publication of their report, with the details of their findings made public as soon as Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Johnson cannot be sanctioned with a suspension now he has resigned, the committee could recommend that he be refused a pass offered to ex-MPs allowing privileged access to parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such a move would be in the power of the Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, and it has been recommended before by a parliamentary watchdog. An independent expert panel proposed the sanction for former speaker John Bercow in its report on bullying which was published after he stepped down as an MP.’A coward’: how Westminster reacted to Boris Johnson quitting as MP \u2013 video<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of Johnson\u2019s allies are said to have urged Tory members to write to the privileges committee in a bid to influence its conclusions. The Guardian understands several MPs have held talks on the possibility of tabling a motion with a view to holding them in contempt of parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tim Loughton, a Tory MP and former minister, said Johnson should \u201cshut up and go away\u201d and branded his allies a \u201cmob\u201d. A government source added: \u201cThe witch-hunt narrative is held by a sad rump of Boris worshippers, whose numbers are small.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a bid to distance Rishi Sunak from his predecessor-but-one, the energy secretary Grant Shapps said \u201cthe world has moved on\u201d from Johnson. He suggested that Johnson was wrong to claim No 10 had promised all the MPs he nominated for peerages would be approved, saying: \u201cOccasionally Boris wouldn\u2019t be all over the detail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shapps said MPs on the privileges committee should be allowed to \u201cget on with their job\u201d and played down Johnson\u2019s potential future in the Conservative party, telling Sky News: \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s got many other things he wants to get on and do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was knighted in Johnson\u2019s resignation honours, said he was hopeful about the former prime minister\u2019s chance of a comeback. He said Sunak should remain leader until the next general election \u2013 but predicted that \u201cat some indeterminate date in the future when Rishi\u2019s hair has gone grey and he decides to retire,\u201d Johnson could come back \u201con his charger to save the nation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Sunak has made no public appearance since Johnson\u2019s resignation, the prime minister broke his silence on Twitter to tell followers he was \u201cfocused on your priorities\u201d. He cited progress on three of his \u201cfive pledges\u201d..<\/p>\n\n\n\n A flurry of campaigning has already begun for the three byelections triggered by the resignation of Johnson loyalists Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike at previous byelections, Labour and the Liberal Democrats appear to have ditched an informal non-aggression pact in Dorries\u2019 seat. Senior figures from both parties and activists have already flooded the area \u2013 aware of the high prize that taking a constituency with a 24,000 Tory majority would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anneliese Dodds, Labour\u2019s chair, and Shabana Mahmood, the party\u2019s campaign coordinator, raced there over the weekend. The Lib Dems, meanwhile, said it had been \u201cour best start to a byelection campaign in living memory\u201d and claimed to have already canvassed more than 10,000 homes with Ed Davey appearing on Sunday and planning a return visit on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Labour came second place in the constituency with 14,000 votes at the last election, to the Lib Dems\u2019 8,000. A three-way fight could lead the anti-Conservative vote to splinter, making the prospect of a Tory loss less likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opposition parties have already been campaigning in earnest in Johnson\u2019s Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, where the Tories\u2019 majority is a relatively slim 7,000. They expect to ramp up their presence in Selby and Ainsty, which was vacated by Adams on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sunak was urged to call the three byelections swiftly. \u201cIt would be sensible for them to take place as quickly as possible,\u201d said Robert Hayward, a Conservative peer and elections expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt would be better for the government to deal with this matter \u2013 whatever the result \u2013 and then be able to move on and deal with the issues of governance and the autumn party conference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hayward added No 10 would \u201cprobably hope\u201d the expected byelection triggered by the 30-day suspension of Margaret Ferrier in Rutherglen and Hamilton West would fall on the same day. An SNP defeat would take some of the political pressure off the Tories, he suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the House of Lords appointment commission sought to distance itself from a row between Johnson and No 10 over the MPs he nominated for a peerage but who were not accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"composite](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ec0720749dc06944255f6e7425f418a10626f5d3\/0_0_2500_1500\/master\/2500.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d39b374eaf767ebfc1ac28bf9f3eae1a\")
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