Who is private prosecutor Marcus Ball?

Private prosecutor Marcus Ball has described his case against Boris Johnson as a world first and he has been working on it for almost three years.

The campaigner, originally from Norfolk, alleges that the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip committed three offences of misconduct in public office by endorsing and making statements which he knew to be false at a time when he was mayor of London and an MP.

Mr Ball has worked full-time on the case since June 2016, and has raised more than £200,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the “Brexit Justice” private prosecution.

Boris Johnson court case
Boris Johnson court case

He founded Brexit Justice in June 2016 and has been “working relentlessly to bring an end to lying in politics ever since”, according to the Brexit Justice website.

A short profile says he is a speaker and a writer and previously worked to reform higher education in the UK.

A post on his crowdfunder page said he would be “going quite quiet for this section of the process”.

Earlier this month, he wrote: “I take my responsibilities to secure coverage and funding very seriously but I take my responsibilities to respect the court process even more seriously.

“In short, I will be going quiet for now.”

Mr Ball has previously said: “This case is a world first, it has never happened before. A Member of Parliament has never been prosecuted for misconduct in public office based upon alleged lying to the public.

“My backers and I aspire to set a precedent in the UK common law making it illegal for an elected representative to lie to the public about financial matters.”

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