Ms Harman already leads the House of Commons Privileges Committee and oversaw an inquiry that found Mr Johnson “misled” Parliament over parties in Downing Street.

The former Prime Minister announced his resignation as an MP after learning that the Committee planned to recommend his suspension from the Commons for 90 days.

Mr Johnson’s supporters condemned the inquiry as a witch-hunt. But some Tories are supporting Ms Harman in her bid for the new role and she has been nominated by Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee representing backbench Conservative MPs.

The Standards Committee chair will be chosen in a vote of all MPs but under House of Commons rules only Labour politicians are allowed to apply for the post because they will be replacing Labour’s Sir Chris Bryant, who has taken up a new role as a Shadow Culture Minister.

READ MORE: Boris’ nemesis favourite, Harriet Harman, to be new sleaze tsar

Ms Harman faces competition from backbencher Stella Creasy, who is standing against her and has the support of former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.

The winner will be chosen in a vote on October 18.

Politicians recently investigated by the Standards Committee include Conservative Christopher Pincher, who the Committee ruled guilty of “an abuse of power” after finding he drunkenly “groped two individuals” at a London club. The former Tamworth MP resigned after losing an appeal against the Committee’s decision to suspend him from Parliament for eight weeks.

Elections to appoint new chairs of the Commons Business and Trade Committee and Petitions Committee also take place on October 18, with Labour MPs eligible to stand.

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A Conservative will be elected as the new Defence Committee chair on October 25. This comes after former chairman Tobias Ellwood was forced out by colleagues, who threatened to hold a vote of no confidence over comments he made appearing to praise the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

The roles come with an additional annual salary of £17,354 on top of the standard MP’s salary of £86,584.

It means some MPs will be spending the current recess, with Parliament broken up for the party conference season, canvassing colleagues to ask for their votes. The Commons returns on October 16.

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