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PRIME Minister Boris Johnson sacked a senior MP from the Tory party for colluding with Labour and the SNP to get a top job.

But who is senior MP Julian Lewis and what happened? Here is everything we know...

Julain Lewis was sacked over his collusion with other parties
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Julain Lewis was sacked over his collusion with other parties

Who is Julian Lewis?

Julian Lewis is the MP for New Forest East and has been since 1997.

He served as a Chair of the Defence Select Committee from 2015 to 2019.

In May 2014 Lewis was one of eight candidates for the chairmanship of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, coming second.

In October 2014 he was elected member of the Defence Select Committee at a by-election while still remaining on the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.

In June 2015, he was elected to the Chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee and in July 2017 he was re-elected to this position, in the new Parliament.

Why was Conservative MP sacked?

Julian Lewis was booted out on July 15 after he humiliated the Prime Minister by working with rivals to gazump his pick for chair of the intelligence and security committee.

Dr Lewis was appointed to the powerful job at the last moment after gaining the support of all four Labour and SNP members of the committee.

A government source said Dr Lewis had been stripped of the whip “because he worked with Labour and other opposition MPs for his own advantage”.

Chris Grayling, MP, was selected as the Intelligence and Security Committee chair
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Chris Grayling, MP, was selected as the Intelligence and Security Committee chairCredit: Alamy Live News

Who is now the Intelligence and Security Committee chair?

No10 has chosen ex-Cabinet minister Chris Grayling for the role.

But the former justice and transport secretary was a controversial choice due to his poor record in numerous top government jobs.

The committee oversees the work of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, and there had been concern about Mr Grayling’s expertise for the chairmanship.

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