London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jan 14, 2026

More lockdown party scandals about to hit Johnson

More lockdown party scandals about to hit Johnson

The infamous Christmas party at Downing Street apparently wasn’t the only lockdown-defying soiree hosted by top Conservative Party officials. According to reports, evidence of more ill-advised gatherings is about to come out.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ratings have plummeted after footage leaked this week showed Downing Street staffers laughing and joking about a Christmas party held there last December 18, while the rest of the country was under Tier 3 lockdown restrictions. The scandal has already led to the resignation of Johnson’s spokeswoman, and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has expanded his probe into the party to include two other gatherings: a leaving party at Number 10 on November 27, 2020, and and a party in the Education Department on December 10.

However, these events are just the tip of the iceberg, according to Downing Street insiders and media reports.

Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former chief of staff, described the leaving party as a “red herring,” and said Case should instead look into a party at Johnson’s flat on November 13, as well as “other flat parties.”


Cumings claimed on Friday that there are yet more parties to be revealed, and that “there's lots of pictures of the parties which will inevitably get out.” The Guardian reported on Friday that in addition to the November 13 party referenced by Cummings, “various little drinks things” took place in Downing Street and at the PM’s residence during the first lockdown of spring 2020, including a “wine and pizza” gathering for Tory advisors after a Covid press conference.

Days before the Downing Street party that triggered the current scandal, Conservative Party staff “danced and drank wine late into the night” at a “raucous” party, The Times reported on Thursday. The event took place in the basement of the party’s London headquarters, and staff were allegedly reprimanded for damaging a door in the building. Several of Johnson’s aides were reportedly present.

It’s not just Johnson embroiled in the party fiasco. A Times report on Saturday said around two dozen Treasury staff held a drinks party in their office last November 25 to celebrate Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending review. At the time, the public was advised to remain at home except for exercise or food.

The Times’ sources said the party wasn’t planned, and that Sunak apparently wasn’t in attendance or aware of the event.

Case’s inquiry is set to wrap up before Christmas, though the mood in Downing Street will not be a festive one. A spokesperson for Johnson announced on Friday that Christmas parties would be canceled at Number 10 this year, after the government introduced Plan B restrictions. The spokesperson insisted that the public would be free to gather in hospitality venues, and denied that the cancellations had anything to do with the scandal currently engulfing the prime minister.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Intensifies Arctic Security Engagement as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Fuels Allied Concern
Meghan Markle Could Return to the UK for the First Time in Nearly Four Years If Security Is Secured
Meghan Markle Likely to Return to UK Only if Harry Secures Official Security Cover
UAE Restricts Funding for Emiratis to Study in UK Amid Fears Over Muslim Brotherhood Influence
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks to Safeguard Long-Term Agreement Stability
Starmer’s Push to Rally Support for Action Against Elon Musk’s X Faces Setback as Canada Shuns Ban
UK Free School Meals Expansion Faces Political and Budgetary Delays
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks With Britain
Germany Hit by Major Airport Strikes Disrupting European Travel
Prince Harry Seeks King Charles’ Support to Open Invictus Games on UK Return
Washington Holds Back as Britain and France Signal Willingness to Deploy Troops in Postwar Ukraine
Elon Musk Accuses UK Government of Suppressing Free Speech as X Faces Potential Ban Over AI-Generated Content
Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Strike on Ukraine
OpenAI and SoftBank Commit One Billion Dollars to Energy and Data Centre Supplier
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
Tesla Loses EV Crown to China’s BYD After Annual Deliveries Decline in 2025
UK Manufacturing Growth Reaches 15-Month Peak as Output and Orders Improve in December
Beijing Threatened to Scrap UK–China Trade Talks After British Minister’s Taiwan Visit
Newly Released Files Reveal Tony Blair Pressured Officials Over Iraq Death Case Involving UK Soldiers
Top Stocks and Themes to Watch in 2026 as Markets Enter New Year with Fresh Momentum
No UK Curfew Ordered as Deepfake TikTok Falsely Attributes Decree to Prime Minister Starmer
Europe’s Largest Defence Groups Set to Return Nearly Five Billion Dollars to Shareholders in Twenty Twenty-Five
Abu Dhabi ‘Capital of Capital’: How Abu Dhabi Rose as a Sovereign Wealth Power
Diamonds Are Powering a New Quantum Revolution
Trump Threatens Strikes Against Iran if Nuclear Programme Is Restarted
×