London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Partygate: 12 events that were under police investigation

Partygate: 12 events that were under police investigation

Fines have been issued in relation to at least eight of the 12 events for breaches of Covid restrictions

Fines have been issued in relation to at least eight of the 12 events across Whitehall that have been under police investigation. Scotland Yard has identified a range of events breaching restrictions under 2020 pandemic legislation, and in some cases confirmed that fixed-penalty notices had been issued.

20 May 2020: ‘bring your own booze’ party


A leaked email from the prime minister’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, showed No 10 staff were invited to “bring your own booze” to an event in the Downing Street garden. Boris Johnson admitted he was there for 25 minutes and said he thought it was a “work event” to thank staff for their efforts during the pandemic.

18 June 2020: Cabinet Office leaving do


A gathering took place in the 70 Whitehall building to mark the departure of a private secretary, Hannah Young. The government’s former ethics chief Helen MacNamara, who now works for the Premier League, has apologised for her “error of judgment” after she was fined.

19 June 2020: Boris Johnson’s 56th birthday


Downing Street has said staff “gathered briefly” in the Cabinet Room in what was reportedly a surprise get-together for the prime minister organised by his then fiancee, Carrie, now his wife. No 10 denied a report that later the same evening family and friends were hosted upstairs to celebrate the occasion.

Johnson, his wife and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, all received fines, it has been confirmed. Johnson became the UK’s first serving prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law.

13 November 2020: Downing Street flat do


Carrie Johnson reportedly hosted parties in the official flat over No 11 where she and the prime minister, including one event on 13 November, the night of Dominic Cummings’s acrimonious departure.

13 November 2020: leaving party for senior aide


Johnson was reported to have given a leaving speech for Lee Cain, his departing director of communications and a close ally of Cummings. The Met has confirmed penalties were issued in connection with this date but has not clarified whether they were over the flat gathering or the leaving do.

17 December 2020: Cabinet Office ‘Christmas party’


The cabinet secretary, Simon Case, removed himself from the inquiry into parties – to be replaced by Sue Gray – after reports emerged of a gathering in the Cabinet Office.

It has been reported that the do was organised by a private secretary in Case’s team. The Cabinet Office said Case played no part in the event, “but walked through the team’s office on the way to his own office”.

17 December 2020: leaving drinks for former Covid taskforce head


Leaving drinks were held in the Cabinet Office for the former director general of the government’s Covid taskforce Kate Josephs, who went on to become chief executive of Sheffield city council.

17 December 2020: No 10 leaving do


A leaving do for a departing Downing Street official took place at No 10. The Met has not clarified which event resulted in fines but Josephs has said she was “truly sorry” over the leaving drinks held in the Cabinet Office.

18 December 2020: Downing Street Christmas party


Officials and advisers reportedly made speeches, enjoyed a cheese board, drank together and exchanged Secret Santa gifts, although the prime minister is not thought to have attended. Johnson’s spokesperson, Allegra Stratton, resigned after a video emerged of her joking about a “fictional party” at a mock press conference.

14 January 2021: more Downing Street leaving drinks


A gathering in No 10 on the departure of two private secretaries. The police investigation related to a suspected breach of restrictions on participating in an indoor gathering of two or more people in a tier 4 area.

16 April 2021: leaving drinks for the outgoing communications director James Slack


One of two leaving dos held on the night before the Queen sat alone at Prince Philip’s funeral. Slack, who left Downing Street to become deputy editor of the Sun, has apologised for the “anger and hurt” caused.

16 April 2021: leaving do for another departing Downing Street official


This is another event, separate to Slack’s leaving do, that took place at a Whitehall location. Johnson is not reported to have been present. This was a suspected breach of a restriction on participating in an outdoor gathering consisting of more than six people.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
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
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×