London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Partygate: Labour urges inquiry into alleged second event at No 10 hosted by Carrie Johnson

Partygate: Labour urges inquiry into alleged second event at No 10 hosted by Carrie Johnson

Gathering was said to have taken place on PM’s birthday but not included in Sue Gray’s report
Labour has called for an investigation into leaked text messages suggesting there was a second gathering in Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat during lockdown, held by his wife, Carrie, on his birthday.

The emergence of new evidence of an event hosted on 19 June 2020, which was not mentioned in the Partygate report by Sue Gray, sparked accusations of a cover-up and calls for No 10 to “come clean”.

The event has not been denied, but Carrie Johnson’s spokesperson said that Gray had been made aware of the texts “as part of her exhaustive inquiry into alleged breaches” of Covid rules.

They added: “Staff were given ample opportunity to present evidence including these messages, and all relevant information was passed to the Metropolitan police for investigation.

“The lunchtime gathering in the cabinet room on 19 June 2020 was subsequently found to be in breach and a fixed-penalty notice was issued to Mrs Johnson among others, for which she apologised unreservedly and promptly paid the fine.”

It was alleged that a Downing Street aide received a text from Johnson’s wife confirming that she was with two male friends in the flat, where the prime minister later joined them.

At the time, strict lockdown rules meant indoor socialising was banned, but people could meet up in groups of six outdoors. An exemption to meeting was made where the gathering was “reasonably necessary … for work purposes”.

The gathering came hours after the birthday celebration held in the cabinet room, for which both Johnsons were fined by police. It is thought to be separate to a third event on Johnson’s birthday with his relatives, which took place in the Downing Street garden and is thought to have adhered to the rules at the time.

It was previously reported that a gathering was held in the flat on 13 November 2020, with food and alcohol available and loud Abba music being played. Gray admitted she stopped investigating that particular event when the Met started their invesetigations, and chose not to pursue her inquiry afterwards. Tory MPs have expressed anger at the revelation.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said the text messages had been suppressed and that the public “deserve the truth about why the holding of a lockdown party in the prime minister’s flat on his own birthday has not been made public until now”.

She added that the revelation “raises new questions about potential misconduct in public office, which must now be subject to proper and genuinely independent scrutiny” and that “this looks like yet another cover-up”.

Rayner called for the messages to be given to MPs on the privileges committee, who are expected to begin their investigation into whether the prime minister misled parliament by initially denying any Covid rules had been broken.

In the letter, Rayner also said Downing Street had previously denied that such a gathering took place, and asked whether any other senior civil servants attended it.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson defended the integrity of Gray’s report, saying it was “impartially conducted and its contents represent the findings and conclusions of the investigation team alone”.

Gray made reference to the cabinet room gathering in her report, saying it lasted for 20 minutes and that those who attended ate food and drank alcohol. Photos were published of Johnson, the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak.

Her long-awaited findings, published on Wednesday, made no reference to any other gathering that day and only once mentioned the prime minister’s wife in relation to a different event.

However, the report did hint that other details might emerge, saying: “Given the piecemeal manner in which events were brought to my attention, it is possible that events took place which were not the subject of investigation.”

The Sunday Times reported that a Downing Street aide with a copy of the texts from Carrie Johnson wrote to the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, stating they had their offer to share the messages with Gray’s team ignored.

A Cabinet Office source said it was categorically not true that such evidence was ignored. They added that the exchange with the aide about the material was part of the information that had been provided to police.

However, the claims threaten to reignite anger over the Partygate scandal, under which the prime minister has sought to draw a line.

A government source admitted that Gray’s report had not set off the “political implosion” some anticipated, but added that the consequence would probably lead to “a gradual drip” of other damning details.

Tory MPs thought to have submitted a no-confidence letter in the prime minister agreed. “It’s bad,” one said. “This is never going to go away. There’s going to be a steady stream of new revelations. It’s just going to keep on!” Another speculated there would be a “drip, drip, drip” of further evidence.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “Sue Gray and the Metropolitan police have completed their inquiries. The prime minister cooperated fully with both investigations.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×