Reports suggest Carrie Johnson hosted friends at No. 10 flat during lockdown

According to The Sunday Times, Sue Gray’s “partygate” inquiry has unearthed details of Carrie Johnson hosting friends at her official residence, the Downing Street flat, during lockdown. Mrs Johnson shares the flat with her husband, the prime minister.

The visits are reportedly being explained as work-related.

Reports suggest Mrs Johnson welcomed two friends, both civil servants but not working in No. 10 at the time, into the Downing Street flat on several occasions during lockdown. The civil servants have been named as Josh Grimstone and Henry Newman, and were based in the Cabinet Office at the time. 

Henry Newman, a former protégé of Michael Gove, worked with Dominic Cummings in the “Vote Leave” campaign. Josh Grimstone is a special adviser to Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove.