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Boris Johnson has been sacked as Tory shadow arts minister amid allegations about his private life, a spokesman for party leader Michael Howard has said.

The spokesman said Mr Johnson was sacked for lying about the claims, not because of the claims themselves.

Mr Howard sacked Mr Johnson by telephone on Saturday afternoon.

The Henley MP, who edits the Spectator magazine and is married with four children, has also been sacked from his post of party vice-chairman.

Mr Johnson last week dismissed reports in a Sunday newspaper that he had an affair with Spectator columnist Petronella Wyatt.

He called the allegations "an inverted pyramid of piffle".