Boris Johnson on a visit to Bovingdon primary school on June 19, 2020; he is said to have attended a birthday gathering in Downing Street the same day. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images
Boris Johnson on a visit to Bovingdon primary school on June 19, 2020; he is said to have attended a birthday gathering in Downing Street the same day. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images
Boris Johnson had birthday bash during lockdown, reports suggest
Boris Johnson had a birthday party during the first lockdown in 2020, according to a report by ITV News, with social distancing rules clearly forbidding indoor social gatherings at the time.
The prime minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, allegedly helped organise a surprise party for Johnson - said to have been attended by up to 30 people, including the interior designer Lulu Lytle - on the afternoon of 19 June.
The event, involving picnic food from M&S, reportedly took place in the Cabinet Room at No 10 Downing Street, after the prime minister returned from an official visit to a school in Hertfordshire.
Downing St say the prime minister only attended for less than 10 minutes.
On the evening of the same day, family friends are understood to have been hosted upstairs in the prime minister’s residence in an apparent further breach of the rules. Number 10 have denied this, claiming the prime minister only hosted a small number of family members outside.
The event, which involved cake and party food and has not been denied by Downing Street, is said to have been attended by up to 30 people, including the interior designer Lulu Lytle.
This would constitute a breach of the social distancing rules that were in place at the time: Gatherings were permitted for up to six people outdoors, but not indoors. It was not until more than two weeks later, on 4 July, that indoor gatherings between two households were permitted.
The revelation has been widely condemned, including by Ruth Davidson, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, and former Tory party chair Baroness Warsi, who said that “anybody who was at a party where rules were broken, whether that’s the prime minister, ministers, special advisers, or civil servants, should resign.”
Sir Keir Starmerand various Labour MPs have called for Boris Johnson’s resignation.
That’s all from me, this blog will now close, goodnight.
Scotland Yard has reiterated its previous statement, saying if Sue Gray’s inquiry finds evidence of a potential criminal offence with regard to the birthday gathering for the PM then officers will make a “further consideration” on whether to investigate, PA reports.
One Tory MP takes on Nadine Dorries for defending the PM over his 2020 birthday party: “It feels very odd seeing Government ministers now saying those rules were stupid.”https://t.co/OldXcxVJmfhttps://t.co/LHjaiYokMN
News @ 10: Every day brings more trouble for No 10 - new party revelations (h/t @PaulBrandITV), accusations of racial discrimination, bully and blackmail and this afternoon a ministerial resignation. Tory MPs in open civil w Boris Johnson & his govt becoming a public spectacle 1/
Former cabinet minister tells me majority of MPs want PM to get a grip, but it becoming harder as chaos consumes No 10 w no sign of stabilisation. But, PM helped by no obvious successor, which creates some inertia. That said, the attrition needs to stop. Move in 10 @SkyNews 2/
My colleagues Jessica Elgot and Aubrey Allegretty report that most Tory MPs are still determined to wait for the outcome of Sue Gray’s inquiry before making up their minds on the future of Boris Johnson as prime minister. Gray’s recommendations on overhauling No 10’s operation are expected late this week.
The FT’s Jim Pickard reports that some Tory MPs think the PM’s job might be saved for now by developments in Ukraine:
some Tory MPs believe Johnson may receive a temporary reprieve from an unlikely source: the Kremlin. “If you look at what’s happening in Ukraine, I don’t think now’s the time for a leadership contest,” said one Tory MPhttps://t.co/KSTPA7hFd9
It's worth a reminder: this is the 15th "event" (*that we know about so far*) that happened in Downing Street and Whitehall during covid regulations...
Eustice continues to argue that the Prime Minister only celebrated outside with family in the evening of June 19th. We understand family friends went up to the PM's flat. No 10 deny this.
Imagine there’s a more dangerous covid variant after Omicron, and @BorisJohnson tries to impose new restrictions on the British people to save lives? That’s why his position is untenable - with all these illegal parties, he’s irrevocably broken trust with the entire country. pic.twitter.com/w31iHgSytz
This from Ruth Davidson, the former leader of the Scottish Tories:
By coincidence, my partner shares a birthday with the Prime Minister (19th June). We marked it in 2020 by inviting one other household to sit outside, socially distanced, in our garden. It didn't occur to us - literally couldn't conceive - that we would act outside the rules.
My colleague Jamie Grierson has put together an explainer on what the social distancing rules were at the time of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street birthday party.
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