Earlier this year Nusrat Ghani, the MP for Wealden, accused the Conservative party of Islamophobia and alleged that she was told her Muslim faith was “making colleagues feel uncomfortable” after asking why she was fired as a minister.

Over six months later, despite launching an investigation at the time, Boris Johnson announced that the investigation into the claims would have to wait until the next prime minister is appointed. The probe will now not resume until September at the earliest.

The former transport minister, who exited the role in 2020, told The Sunday Times in January that she had asked a Tory party whip about the decision and was told her religion was discussed at a Downing Street meeting. The former transport minister also said she was told there were concerns she was not doing enough to defend the Tories against allegations of Islamophobia.

She said: “I was told that at the reshuffle meeting in Downing Street that ‘Muslimness’ was raised as an ‘issue’, that my ‘Muslim woman minister’ status was making colleagues uncomfortable and that there were concerns ‘that I wasn’t loyal to the party as I didn’t do enough to defend the party against Islamophobia allegations.’

Following her accusations, Johnson announced that an investigation would be launched, yet in an update to the Commons Liaison Committee on Tuesday, he said that the investigation had not been completed by his independent ethics adviser Lord Geidt before his resignation.

“The investigation therefore remains outstanding and should be a matter for a new independent adviser function, as soon as appointed by my successor,” he told MPs.

In a Twitter statement, Ghani wrote: “Not a day has gone by without thinking about what I was told and wondering why I was in politics, while hoping for the government to take this seriously. Those who have not had their identity and faith questioned cannot fully appreciate what it does to you. Now is not the time I would have chosen for this to come out and I have pursued every avenue and process I thought available to me, but many people have known what happened.”

At the time, minister Nadhim Zahawi led calls for an investigation, saying there was “no place for Islamophobia or any form of racism” in the Conservative party after his colleague’s allegations. “This has to be investigated properly and racism routed out,” he said.

Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, initially said there would be no inquiry, but senior minister Sajid Javid, alongside Zahawi, made it clear an investigation was essential. By 25 January, the prime minister had bowed to pressure and launched an investigation into Ghani’s claims, having previously told her back in 2020 to start a formal complaint with the party about the way she was treated.

“The prime minister has been clear that there is absolutely no place in our society for anti-Muslim hatred, racism or discrimination of any kind. This government is absolutely committed to supporting freedom of religion, and believe faith has an important role in public life,” a Downing Street spokesperson told Stylist in January.

“The prime minister has been clear that he takes these allegations very seriously. The Cabinet Office will now investigate to establish the facts of what happened.”

In response, Ghani tweeted: “As I said to the prime minister last night, all I want is for this to be taken seriously and for him to investigate. I welcome his decision to do that now.”

In 2019, a report into Islamophobia in the Conservative party was been branded a “whitewash” after it rejected claims of institutional racism and declined to pass judgment on whether Boris Johnson breached a code of conduct by comparing Muslim women in burkas to “letterboxes”.

Following the inquiry, which warned “anti-Muslim sentiment remains a problem”, the Conservatives apologised to victims of Islamophobia and racism in the party and promised to act.

Downing Street declined Stylist’s request for further comment.

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