Partygate hearings could be put back to new year after No 10 delay

Hefty chunk' of documents handed over to committee last week, four months after request

• Politics live: latest updates

The privileges committee inquiry into whether Boris Johnson misled the Commons may be delayed until January, after No 10 finally handed over a cache of evidence relating to Partygate four months after it was requested.

The Guardian understands that the autumn target for beginning oral evidence sessions, in which the former prime minister will be called as a witness, has been abandoned. Instead, sources said the highly anticipated sessions could be pushed back to after Christmas.