The political crisis known as ‘Partygate’ intensified on 11 January 2022, as media reports revealed that a “bring-your-own-booze” gathering had been held in the garden of 10 Downing Street during the first Covid-19 lockdown.

The Partygate affair, which centred on a series of gatherings in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns, began with a series of revelations in late 2021

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On 30 November 2021, the Daily Mirror’s political editor, Pippa Crerar, reported that the prime minister, Boris Johnson, had broken lockdown rules with a series of Downing Street gatherings during the 2020 festive period.

The report read: “The prime minister gave a speech at a packed leaving do for a top aide last November when the country was in the grip of its second lockdown.

“Then just days before Christmas, with London in tier 3 restrictions, members of his top team held their own festive bash in Downing Street.”

One source told Crerar: “It was a Covid nightmare”.

Johnson returned to the House of Commons for prime minister’s questions on 1 December. He told MPs “that all guidance was followed completely in No 10”.

On 7 December, ITV News broadcast a 47-second clip that showed Allegra Stratton, the Downing Street press secretary, joking about a Christmas party. Stratton, addressing a mock press conference, laughingly said that the party in question “was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced”.

Clip.

The following day, Johnson told the commons that he was “furious to see” the clip of Stratton. He insisted that “the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times.”

The prime minister confirmed that the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, would lead an investigation into possible rule-breaking in Downing Street.

Stratton was ultimately forced to resign as Downing Street press secretary.

Over the following days and weeks, further revelations – in the form of source quotes and pictures – appeared in the media that pointed to gatherings held during the 2020 festive period.

On 17 December, a joint investigation by the Independent and Politico referred to a Christmas party held in the Cabinet Office for Simon Case’s staff. As a result, leading civil servant Sue Gray assumed the reins of his investigation into reported Downing Street gatherings.

The next major revelation came in the form of the “bring-your-own-booze” story broken by ITV News on 10-11 January 2022. The report was based on a leaked email sent by the prime minister’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, on 20 May 2020. The email invited more than 100 Downing Street staff to “make the most of the lovely weather” with socially distanced drinks.

In full, Reynolds’ email read: “Hi all,

“After what has been an incredibly busy period we thought it would be nice to make the most of the lovely weather and have some socially distanced drinks in the No10 garden this evening.

“Please join us from 6pm and bring your own booze!”

At the time of the event, strict lockdown rules were in place across England, forbidding large gatherings and limiting social meetings to just one person from outside one’s household in an outdoor public space.

Johnson was once again forced to address the Partygate affair in the House of Commons.

The prime minister told MPs that he “believed implicitly” that the gathering “was a work event”.

He said: “I want to apologise. I know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices over the last 18 months.

“I know the anguish that they have been through, unable to mourn their relatives and unable to live their lives as they want or to do the things they love.

“I know the rage they feel with me and with the government I lead when they think that in Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules.”

He added: “When I went into that garden just after 6 O’clock on 20 May 2020, to thank groups of staff before going back into my office 25 minutes later to continue working, I believed implicitly that this was a work event, but with hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside.”

Johnson asked that “Sue Gray be allowed to complete her inquiry into that day and several others, so that the full facts can be established.”

On 18 January, Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former chief adviser, alleged that the prime minister knew in advance about the “bring-your-own-booze” gathering on 20 May 2020 and agreed that it could go ahead.

In a post to his Substack, Cummings said he would “swear under oath” that he raised concerns about the gathering.

Cummings wrote on his Substack: “Amid discussion over the future of the cabinet secretary and PPS himself, which had been going on for days, I said to the PM something like: ‘Martin’s invited the building to a drinks party, this is what I’m talking about, you’ve got to grip this madhouse.’

“The PM waved it aside.”

He added: “The events of 20 May alone, never mind the string of other events, mean the PM lied to parliament about parties.”

https://x.com/Dominic2306/status/1483129651975315459

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On 3 February 2022, Johnson’s premiership was plunged into a deeper crisis when four of his most senior Downing Street aides, including Martin Reynolds, resigned within hours of each other. The exodus came as the prime minister battled to contain the political fallout from the partygate scandal – as well as a row over a controversial remark he made in parliament.

The first and most damaging resignation was that of Munira Mirza, the head of the No 10 policy unit. She quit in protest at the prime minister’s use of a false claim linking Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions (DPP), to the failure to prosecute the sex offender Jimmy Savile.

In her resignation letter, Mirza criticised Johnson’s “inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse”.

Mirza’s resignation was followed by those of Jack Doyle, the director of communications; Dan Rosenfield, the chief of staff; and Reynolds, the prime minister’s principal private secretary and author of the infamous “bring your own booze” email.

The departures of Reynolds and Rosenfield were said to be part of a planned clear-out in response to the initial findings of Sue Gray’s report.

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On 12 April 2022, Johnson and the chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, were issued with fixed penalty notices by the Metropolitan Police for breaching Covid-19 lockdown regulations.

The fines made Johnson the first serving prime minister in British history to be sanctioned for breaking the law. They were issued as part of the police investigation, known as Operation Hillman, into the Partygate scandal.

The specific event for which Johnson and Sunak were penalised was a birthday celebration for the prime minister held in the cabinet room on 19 June 2020, at a time when restrictions banned most indoor gatherings involving more than two people.

On 6 June 2022, Johnson survived a vote of no confidence in his leadership. Johnson won the secret ballot of Conservative MPs by 211 votes to 148 – a victory that technically secured his position under party rules for another year. However, the scale of the revolt was far larger than had been anticipated. The publication of Gray’s critical report into Partygate had galvanised discontented MPs to act.

The Chris Pincher scandal and the mass walkout of ministers that followed ultimately forced Johnson’s resignation on 7 July 2022.

Johnson’s commons testimony was scrutinised by the privileges committee as part of its investigation into whether the prime minister misled MPs.

The 106-page final report of the privileges committee, published on 15 June 2023, found that Johnson committed “repeated contempts of parliament”.

The committee’s report stated that, had Johnson not resigned as an MP, it would have recommended that he be suspended from the House of Commons for 90 days. This proposal, subject to approval by a vote of the commons, would have triggered a recall petition in Johnson’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.

On 19 June 2023, the House of Commons voted 354 to 7 in support of the report, with a large number of abstentions. Rishi Sunak, the serving prime minister, was among those who abstained. The then-PM maintained that he had other commitments.