London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Nov 18, 2025

Boris Johnson will not face further fines over lockdown gatherings, says No 10

Boris Johnson will not face further fines over lockdown gatherings, says No 10

Met concludes Partygate investigation and says 126 fixed-penalty notices were issued covering 12 events

Boris Johnson will not receive any more fines for lockdown-breaching parties, it has been confirmed, after the Metropolitan police said they had completed their investigation into gatherings in Downing Street and Whitehall.

The police force said they had issued a total of 126 fixed-penalty notices, covering all 12 events investigated.

Johnson and his wife, Carrie, received fixed-penalty notices last month for attending a celebration for his birthday, but will not be fined again. “The Met has confirmed they are taking no further action as regards the prime minister,” Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said.

It is understood a similar reassurance was given to Carrie Johnson. The cabinet secretary, Simon Case, who had not been fined before now, is not among the last tranche of penalties, officials said.

While Johnson receiving just one fine would seemingly limit the prospect of moves by Tory MPs to oust him, he now faces publication of the full report into illicit gatherings by the senior civil servant Sue Gray, which officials say will be published next week.

A brief, interim version of Gray’s report was published, but the full details were delayed for the police investigation. Gray has had access to significant amounts of information including photos of events, though it seems unlikely these will be released.

Opposition parties nonetheless reiterated their calls for Johnson to resign, with Keir Starmer saying the prime minister was “responsible for the culture” in Downing Street.

Johnson’s spokesperson said: “The PM is pleased that the investigation is concluded, and would like to thank the Met for their work.” Asked whether Johnson would be making a public statement, he said the prime minister “will update parliament in the first instance, once Sue Gray’s report is published”.

The spokesperson said Gray’s report would be published, “as received” from the senior civil servant. Asked whether photos or other evidence could be published, he said: “It will be up to Sue Gray what information she includes in her report.”

The Met said it had imposed fines for events on eight dates. However, on several of these, more than one event took place. The Met said that of the 12 events referred to it for investigation, “all resulted or will do so in a FPN [fixed-penalty notice] being issued”.

The 126 fines were issued to 83 different people, the Met said. There were 53 FPNs issued to 35 men and 73 to 48 women, meaning 28 people received between two and five penalties.

The Met’s acting deputy commissioner, Helen Ball, said 97 fines had so far been paid, and none of those outstanding were beyond the 28-day period people have to make the payment.

She said the breach of the rules that led to each of the fines issues was “clear cut”.

“Our view is that these 126 referrals are clear cut. We made sure after a really thorough investigation that clear evidence existed of a breach,” she said.

Asked whether Johnson should still step down having received one fine, Starmer – who faces his own potential penalty for a possible Covid rules breach – said this had not changed.

The Labour leader said: “After an investigation that shows 120-plus breaches of the law in Downing Street, of course he should resign. He’s responsible for the culture.”

Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the concluded investigation showed Downing Street “was fined more times for breaking Covid laws than any other address in the country”.

He said: “It exposes a shocking level of criminality at the heart of Johnson’s No 10. It beggars belief that Conservative MPs are allowing our great country to be run by a prime minister who broke the law then repeatedly lied about it.”

The eight dates for which fines have been issued are:

*  20 May 2020, when “bring your own booze” drinks were held in the Downing Street garden.

*  18 June 2020, when a party was held to mark the departure of a No 10 private secretary.

*  19 June 2020, the date of Johnson’s birthday party, for which he was fined.

*  13 November 2020, when a leaving do was held for adviser Lee Cain as well as a party in the No 10 flat.

*  17 December 2020 when several parties were held, including one to mark the departure of Covid taskforce boss Kate Josephs.

*  18 December 2020, the date of the festive gathering which led to the resignation of Allegra Stratton.

*  14 January 2021, when gatherings were held to mark the departure of two private secretaries, as revealed by Sue Gray.

*  16 April 2021, the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, when two parties were held, one of which culminated in Wilfred Johnson’s swing being broken.

In its statement, the Met said that while it did not routinely investigate historical Covid breaches, it would do so if there was evidence those involved knew they were breaking rules, where the case was clear, and “where not investigating would significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law”.

The investigation saw 12 detectives work through 345 documents, including emails, door logs, diary entries and witness statements, 510 photographs and CCTV images and 204 questionnaires.

Ball said: “Our investigation was thorough and impartial and was completed as quickly as we could, given the amount of information that needed to be reviewed and the importance of ensuring that we had strong evidence for each FPN referral.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Unveils Sweeping Asylum Reforms with 20-Year Settlement Wait and Conditional Status
UK Orders Twitter Hacker to Repay £4.1 Million Following 2020 High-Profile Breach
Popeyes UK Eyes Century Mark as Fried-Chicken Chain Accelerates Roll-out
Two-thirds of UK nurses report working while unwell amid staffing crisis
Britain to Reform Human-Rights Laws in Sweeping Asylum Policy Overhaul
Nearly Half of Job Losses Under Labour Government Affect UK Youth
UK Chancellor Reeves Eyes High-Value Home Levy in Budget to Raise Tens of Billions
UK Urges Poland to Choose Swedish Submarines in Multi-Billion € Defence Bid
US Border Czar Tom Homan Declares UK No Longer a ‘Friend’ Amid Intelligence Rift
UK Announces Reversal of Income Tax Hike Plans Ahead of Budget
Starmer Faces Mounting Turmoil as Leaked Briefings Ignite Leadership Plot Rumours
UK Commentator Sami Hamdi Returns Home After US Visa Revocation and Detention
UK Eyes Denmark-Style Asylum Rules in Major Migration Shift
UK Signals Intelligence Freeze Amid US Maritime Drug-Strike Campaign
TikTok Awards UK & Ireland 2025 Celebrates Top Creators Including Max Klymenko as Creator of the Year
UK Growth Nearly Stalls at 0.1% in Q3 as Cyberattack Halts Car Production
Apple Denied Permission to Appeal UK App Store Ruling, Faces Over £1bn Liability
UK Chooses Wylfa for First Small Modular Reactors, Drawing Sharp U.S. Objection
Starmer Faces Growing Labour Backlash as Briefing Sparks Authority Crisis
Reform UK Withdraws from BBC Documentary Amid Legal Storm Over Trump Speech Edit
UK Prime Minister Attempts to Reassert Authority Amid Internal Labour Leadership Drama
UK Upholds Firm Rules on Stablecoins to Shield Financial System
Brussels Divided as UK-EU Reset Stalls Over Budget Access
Prince Harry’s Remembrance Day Essay Expresses Strong Regret at Leaving Britain
UK Unemployment Hits 5% as Wage Growth Slows, Paving Way for Bank of England Rate Cut
Starmer Warns of Resurgent Racism in UK Politics as He Vows Child-Poverty Reforms
UK Grocery Inflation Slows to 4.7% as Supermarkets Launch Pre-Christmas Promotions
UK Government Backs the BBC amid Editing Scandal and Trump Threat of Legal Action
UK Assessment Mis-Estimated Fallout From Palestine Action Ban, Records Reveal
UK Halts Intelligence Sharing with US Amid Lethal Boat-Strike Concerns
King Charles III Leads Britain in Remembrance Sunday Tribute to War Dead
UK Retail Sales Growth Slows as Households Hold Back Ahead of Black Friday and Budget
Shell Pulls Out of Two UK Floating Wind Projects Amid Renewables Retreat
Viagogo Hit With £15 Million Tax Bill After HMRC Transfer-Pricing Inquiry
Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack Pinches UK GDP, Bank of England Says
UK and Germany Sound Alarm on Russian-Satellite Threat to Critical Infrastructure
Former Prince Andrew Faces U.S. Congressional Request for Testimony Amid Brexit of Royal Title
BBC Director-General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness Resign Amid Editing Controversy
Tom Cruise Arrives by Helicopter at UK Scientology Fundraiser Amid Local Protests
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson Face Fresh UK Probes Amid Royal Fallout
Mothers Link Teen Suicides to AI Chatbots in Growing Legal Battle
UK Government to Mirror Denmark’s Tough Immigration Framework in Major Policy Shift
UK Government Turns to Denmark-Style Immigration Reforms to Overhaul Border Rules
UK Chancellor Warned Against Cutting Insulation Funding as Budget Looms
UK Tenant Complaints Hit Record Levels as Rental Sector Faces Mounting Pressure
Apple to Pay Google About One Billion Dollars Annually for Gemini AI to Power Next-Generation Siri
UK Signals Major Shift as Nuclear Arms Race Looms
BBC’s « Celebrity Traitors UK » Finale Breaks Records with 11.1 Million Viewers
UK Spy Case Collapse Highlights Implications for UK-Taiwan Strategic Alignment
On the Road to the Oscars? Meghan Markle to Star in a New Film
×