Everything we know about Boris Johnson’s alleged Downing Street lockdown parties

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. In a scathing comment on the culture at No 10 under Mr Johnson’s leadership, the senior civil servant 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 the PM’s birthday celebration was among a dozen gatherings being investigated by Scotland Yard, as was an alleged party in his private flat. When a video emerged showing the PM’s staff laughing and joking about having hosted a secret Christmas party during the 2020 winter lockdown, a scandal that prompted the tearful resignation of his spokesperson, Allegra Stratton, Mr Johnson said he he was “sickened” at the prospect of Downing Street employees ignoring social restrictions. Which is interesting because when Mr Johnson did finally address the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions on 12 January, he confirmed that he had attended the garden gathering for around 25 minutes with the intention of thanking his staff for their efforts during the pandemic while claiming, somewhat improbably: “I believed implicitly that it was a work event.” He apologised, expressed empathy for the public fury in light of the personal sacrifices millions had made and implored his critics to await the outcome of Ms Gray’s inquiry before passing judgement. As further details were leaked to the newspapers in dribs and drabs, Mr Johnson invited further exasperated ridicule when he told Sky News during a hospital visit on Tuesday 18 January: “I can’t believe we would have gone ahead with an event that people said was against the rules… Nobody warned me it was against the rules, I am categorical about that – I would have remembered that.” After news of a sixteenth and final party, the aforementioned gathering to celebrate Mr Johnson’s birthday, emerged, the Met announced its investigation, prompting the delay of Ms Gray’s report as Scotland Yard requested that sensitive details pertaining to its own areas of inquiry be removed.