London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Dec 02, 2025

Partygate: No easy return for Boris Johnson after Easter break

Partygate: No easy return for Boris Johnson after Easter break

There will be no easing back into work for the prime minister after this Easter break.

On Tuesday he'll face MPs for the first time since he was fined for breaching Covid rules - and then address fellow Tory MPs in the evening.

It'll come a week after the prime minister, his wife and the chancellor received fines for attending a birthday gathering for the PM in No 10 in the Cabinet Room.

On Wednesday, he faces a Prime Minister's Questions from the opposition, after a weekend where the Sunday Times reported claims he was involved in "instigating" a leaving do in November 2020, which Downing Street deny.

All the while he will be hoping more fines don't land in his inbox from police investigating Covid breaches in government.

So, what's the plan? And where does more potential jeopardy lie?

No 10 sources stress he will apologise again to MPs for Covid breaches in Downing Street, and say he understands the strength of feeling around breaches of Covid restrictions at the heart of government.

Boris Johnson may want to focus on issues such as the Ukraine crisis and the plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

As one source put it, there is "quite a bit to update Parliament on".

But opposition parties will want to turn the attention to him becoming the first serving prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law.

The timing of the fines came as a surprise, with the prime minister's director of communications coordinating the response while floating on a felucca boat down the Nile on holiday with no electricity and only a power bank.

Speaking after the fine - the prime minister said people "had the right to expect better" from him and it "did not occur" to him at the time that the "brief" gathering in the Cabinet Room to mark his birthday in June 2020 could be in contravention of Covid lockdown rules.

Opposition parties strongly believe the prime minister deliberately misled parliament by previously saying rules in No 10 were followed at all times - and are looking at various mechanisms to hold him to account about this. Labour sources say options under consideration include forcing a vote on whether he misled Parliament or referring him to a parliamentary committee to investigate.

There's no suggestion the prime minister would lose any vote against him, but opposition parties are likely to strongly criticise any Tory MPs who may be forced to publicly defend his actions.

After fresh allegations in the Sunday Times that at a leaving drinks for his director of communications, Lee Cain, in November 2020 the prime minister poured drinks at the gathering Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said - if the reports were true - then the prime minister had a "hand in instigating" at least one of the parties.

She added he had "deliberately misled the British people at every turn".

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner has heavily criticised the PM's involvement in the parties


The newspaper cited a source claiming it was not a leaving do, but a press office Friday afternoon drinks, until the prime minister showed up.

No 10 have not denied that this event took place, but have strongly denied that the prime minister instigated it - with sources pointing to the reports that alcohol was already on the table when the prime minister showed up.

One individual present at the event told the BBC that people were instead having a drink at the office at the end of the day and the prime minister had popped in to say goodbye to Lee Cain.

Those close to him also stress he turned up at his own press office with people "by definition" allowed to be there on that day.

Some of those present at the gathering have also told the BBC they have not been questioned by the police about this specific gathering.

However, there is concern among some Tory MPs that further fines or bad headlines could be yet to come.

The gathering he has been fined for so far is considered by many as a more minor event - a gathering in the Cabinet Room ahead of a meeting on Covid where people wished him happy birthday.

While he paid the fine, No 10 insiders have said the prime minister did not believe it was wrong to step into this gathering to allow people who worked for him to say happy birthday, and that it "didn't feel like a party".

Police are still wading through evidence surrounding other events - such as two now infamous Downing Street garden drinks events.

The prime minister's defence in coming weeks is likely to focus on not being aware that turning up at these gatherings in a place, one source described "he was allowed to be" with "people who were allowed to be there" was disallowed.

But should further fines be issued, or more egregious breaches found, this argument could prove much harder to make both to the British public - but also to some of his own MPs.


Ros Atkins on… Boris Johnson’s lockdown party fine


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Head of UK Budget Watchdog Resigns After Premature Leak of Reeves’ Budget Report
Car-sharing giant Zipcar to exit UK market by end of 2025
Reports of Widespread Drone Deployment Raise Privacy and Security Questions in the UK
UK Signals Security Concerns Over China While Pursuing Stronger Trade Links
Google warns of AI “irrationality” just as Gemini 3 launch rattles markets
Top Consultancies Freeze Starting Salaries as AI Threatens ‘Pyramid’ Model
Macron Says Washington Pressuring EU to Delay Enforcement of Digital-Regulation Probes Against Meta, TikTok and X
UK’s DragonFire Laser Downs High-Speed Drones as £316m Deal Speeds Naval Deployment
UK Chancellor Rejects Claims She Misled Public on Fiscal Outlook Ahead of Budget
Starmer Defends Autumn Budget as Finance Chief Faces Accusations of Misleading Public Finances
EU Firms Struggle with 3,000-Hour Paperwork Load — While Automakers Fear De Facto 2030 Petrol Car Ban
White House launches ‘Hall of Shame’ site to publicly condemn media outlets for alleged bias
UK Budget’s New EV Mileage Tax Undercuts Case for Plug-In Hybrids
UK Government Launches National Inquiry into ‘Grooming Gangs’ After US Warning and Rising Public Outcry
Taylor Swift Extends U.K. Chart Reign as ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ Hits Six Weeks at No. 1
250 Still Missing in the Massive Fire, 94 Killed. One Day After the Disaster: Survivor Rescued on the 16th Floor
Trump: National Guard Soldier Who Was Shot in Washington Has Died; Second Soldier Fighting for His Life
UK Chancellor Reeves Defends Tax Rises as Essential to Reduce Child Poverty and Stabilise Public Finances
No Evidence Found for Claim That UK Schools Are Shifting to Teaching American English
European Powers Urge Israel to Halt West Bank Settler Violence Amid Surge in Attacks
"I Would Have Given Her a Kidney": She Lent Bezos’s Ex-Wife $1,000 — and Received Millions in Return
European States Approve First-ever Military-Grade Surveillance Network via ESA
UK to Slash Key Pension Tax Perk, Targeting High Earners Under New Budget
UK Government Announces £150 Annual Cut to Household Energy Bills Through Levy Reforms
UK Court Hears Challenge to Ban on Palestine Action as Critics Decry Heavy-Handed Measures
Investors Rush Into UK Gilts and Sterling After Budget Eases Fiscal Concerns
UK to Raise Online Betting Taxes by £1.1 Billion Under New Budget — Firms Warn of Fallout
Lamine Yamal? The ‘Heir to Messi’ Lost to Barcelona — and the Kingdom Is in a Frenzy
Warner Music Group Drops Suit Against Suno, Launches Licensed AI-Music Deal
HP to Cut up to 6,000 Jobs Globally as It Ramps Up AI Integration
MediaWorld Sold iPad Air for €15 — Then Asked Customers to Return Them or Pay More
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer Promises ‘Full-Time’ Education for All Children as School Attendance Slips
UK Extends Sugar Tax to Sweetened Milkshakes and Lattes in 2028 Health Push
UK Government Backs £49 Billion Plan for Heathrow Third Runway and Expansion
UK Gambling Firms Report £1bn Surge in Annual Profits as Pressure Mounts for Higher Betting Taxes
UK Shares Advance Ahead of Budget as Financials and Consumer Staples Lead Gains
Domino’s UK CEO Andrew Rennie Steps Down Amid Strategic Reset
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
×