London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

Downing Street parties: Boris Johnson vows to fight on as MPs await Sue Gray report

Downing Street parties: Boris Johnson vows to fight on as MPs await Sue Gray report

Boris Johnson has vowed to fight on as prime minister after facing fresh calls to quit over lockdown parties in Downing Street.

Tory MPs asked supportive questions in the Commons but the PM faced calls to resign from Labour and SNP MPs

MPs are still waiting to see the findings of civil servant Sue Gray's inquiry into the events, which had been expected on Wednesday.

At Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir Starmer called on the PM to keep a promise to publish the report in full.

Mr Johnson replied that he would "do exactly what I said".

Downing Street has said it is their "intention" to publish the report in the format in which Mr Johnson receives it.

The BBC understands that Ms Gray's report is essentially completed, but she has not yet sent it to the prime minister.

It seems likely MPs may have to wait until Thursday - or beyond - to see the report.

Mr Johnson has said he will give the opposition parties time to study its contents before he makes a Commons statement on it.

Separately, the Metropolitan Police have launched an inquiry into potential Covid-law breaking in Downing Street, after being handed details of parties by Sue Gray.

At a stormy Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir said the prime minister had previously told MPs that "all guidance was followed" in Downing Street over gatherings during Covid lockdowns.

The Labour leader added: "So since he acknowledges the ministerial code [governing standards of behaviour and forbidding ministers from misleading the Commons] applies to him, will he now resign?"

Mr Johnson replied: "No."

He accused Sir Keir of being "relentlessly opportunistic throughout" the pandemic by shifting his position on lockdowns, whereas he had got all the big decisions right.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle had to step in several times to calm shouting MPs down, threatening some with expulsion from the chamber.

Amid continued noise, Sir Keir said: "The prime minister's continual defence is 'Wait for the Sue Gray report'. On 8 December he told this House, 'I will place a copy of the report in the library of the House of Commons'.

"His spokesperson has repeatedly stated that means the full report, not parts of the report, not a summary of the report, not an edited copy. So, can the prime minister confirm that he will publish the full Sue Gray report as he receives it?"

Mr Johnson replied: "We've got to leave the report to the independent investigator, as he knows, of course when I receive it, I will do exactly what I said."

The SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, asked Conservative MPs to "show the prime minister the door" by triggering a leadership contest.

Mr Johnson has previously apologised for attending a "bring-your-own-booze" event in the No 10 garden on 20 May 2020, during the first lockdown, saying he thought it was a "work event".

Birthday party


Reports of a birthday party held for Mr Johnson in the Cabinet Room in June 2020 have also come to light this week.

Some Tory MPs have already demanded Mr Johnson's resignation, but many others say they are waiting for the Gray report before deciding whether to submit letters of no confidence in him.

At least 54 of them must write to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, to set up a vote on the prime minister's future.

Currently, if a vote of confidence in the prime minister is triggered there cannot be another one for 12 months.

The committee does not have plans to change the rules to allow two confidence votes within a year, despite reports this proposal had been considered.

Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, repeated his staunch defence of the PM, insisting the reported gatherings were work events.

He added: "If people are working all day, they have got to eat, they have got to have lunch, they must be allowed to have a cup of coffee during the day."

Asked whether that needed to be wine and cake, which was said to be served at the events, Mr Rees-Mogg replied: "This issue about do people have [an alcoholic] drink when they are working is not absolutely set in stone one way of the other."


Watch: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer challenges the PM to resign


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
×