London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Nov 25, 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 Economy Stalls as Reeves Faces First Budget Test
UK Economy’s Weak Start Adds Pressure on Prime Minister Starmer
UK Government Acknowledges Billionaire Exodus Amid Tax Rise Concerns
UK Budget 2025: Markets Brace as Chancellor Faces Fiscal Tightrope
UK Unveils Strategic Plan to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains
UK Taskforce Calls for Radical Reset of Nuclear Regulation to Cut Costs and Accelerate Build
UK Government Launches Consultation on Major Overhaul of Settlement Rules
Google Struggles to Meet AI Demand as Infrastructure, Energy and Supply-Chain Gaps Deepen
Car Parts Leader Warns Europe Faces Heavy Job Losses in ‘Darwinian’ Auto Shake-Out
Arsenal Move Six Points Clear After Eze’s Historic Hat-Trick in Derby Rout
Wealthy New Yorkers Weigh Second Homes as the ‘Mamdani Effect’ Ripples Through Luxury Markets
Families Accuse OpenAI of Enabling ‘AI-Driven Delusions’ After Multiple Suicides
UK Unveils Critical-Minerals Strategy to Break China Supply-Chain Grip
Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” Extends U.K. No. 1 Run to Five Weeks
UK VPN Sign-Ups Surge by Over 1,400 % as Age-Verification Law Takes Effect
Former MEP Nathan Gill Jailed for Over Ten Years After Taking Pro-Russia Bribes
Majority of UK Entrepreneurs Regard Government as ‘Anti-Business’, Survey Shows
UK’s Starmer and US President Trump Align as Geneva Talks Probe Ukraine Peace Plan
UK Prime Minister Signals Former Prince Andrew Should Testify to US Epstein Inquiry
Royal Navy Deploys HMS Severn to Shadow Russian Corvette and Tanker Off UK Coast
China’s Wedding Boom: Nightclubs, Mountains and a Demographic Reset
Fugees Founding Member Pras Michel Sentenced to 14 Years in High-Profile US Foreign Influence Case
WhatsApp’s Unexpected Rise Reshapes American Messaging Habits
United States: Judge Dressed Up as Elvis During Hearings – and Was Forced to Resign
Johnson Blasts ‘Incoherent’ Covid Inquiry Findings Amid Report’s Harsh Critique of His Government
Lord Rothermere Secures £500 Million Deal to Acquire Telegraph Titles
Maduro Tightens Security Measures as U.S. Strike Threat Intensifies
U.S. Envoys Deliver Ultimatum to Ukraine: Sign Peace Deal by Thursday or Risk Losing American Support
Zelenskyy Signals Progress Toward Ending the War: ‘One of the Hardest Moments in History’ (end of his business model?)
U.S. Issues Alert Declaring Venezuelan Airspace a Hazard Due to Escalating Security Conditions
The U.S. State Department Announces That Mass Migration Constitutes an Existential Threat to Western Civilization and Undermines the Stability of Key American Allies
Students Challenge AI-Driven Teaching at University of Staffordshire
Pikeville Medical Center Partners with UK’s Golisano Children’s Network to Expand Pediatric Care
Germany, France and UK Confirm Full Support for Ukraine in US-Backed Security Plan
UK Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods Face Rising Backlash as Pandemic Schemes Unravel
UK Records Coldest Night of Autumn as Sub-Zero Conditions Sweep the Country
UK at Risk of Losing International Doctors as Workforce Exodus Grows, Regulator Warns
ASU Launches ASU London, Extending Its Innovation Brand to the UK Education Market
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Visit China in January as Diplomatic Reset Accelerates
Google Launches Voluntary Buyouts for UK Staff Amid AI-Driven Company Realignment
UK braces for freezing snap as snow and ice warnings escalate
Majority of UK Novelists Fear AI Could Displace Their Work, Cambridge Study Finds
UK's Carrier Strike Group Achieves Full Operational Capability During NATO Drill in Mediterranean
Trump and Mamdani to Meet at the White House: “The Communist Asked”
Nvidia Again Beats Forecasts, Shares Jump in After-Hours Trading
Wintry Conditions Persist Along UK Coasts After Up to Seven Centimetres of Snow
UK Inflation Eases to 3.6 % in October, Opening Door for Rate Cut
UK Accelerates Munitions Factory Build-Out to Reinforce Warfighting Readiness
UK Consumer Optimism Plunges Ahead of November Budget
A Decade of Innovation Stagnation at Apple: The Cook Era Critique
×