Partygate inquiry: What happens next?

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The Whitehall mandarin’s 12-page “update” on the “Partygate” scandal blasted “failures of leadership and judgement” in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, describing the behaviour of some personnel as “difficult to justify”. In a scathing comment on the culture at No 10 under Mr Johnson’s leadership, the senior administrator wrote: “Some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time.” Her report also revealed that Mr Johnson’s birthday celebration is among a dozen gatherings being investigated by the Metropolitan Police, as is an alleged party in the prime minister’s private flat. The terms of reference of Ms Gray’s probe as originally set out by the Cabinet Office – prior to the Met announcing its own investigation and prompting a delay to her own inquiry as sensitive details had to be censored – stated that its primary purpose was “to establish swiftly a general understanding of the nature of the gatherings, including attendance, the setting and the purpose, with reference to adherence to the guidance in place at the time”. Sir David Normington, a former Whitehall permanent secretary, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme of the pressures on Ms Gray: “She will be very aware that she has the reputation and possibly the careers of senior civil servants and possibly of the prime minister in her hands, and that is a very difficult position to be in, however fair and fearless and rigorous you are.” Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson meanwhile moved to reassure reporters during the evidence-gathering phase that: “Sue Gray is acting independently, she is leading this piece of work.