London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

PMQs: PM under fire over No 10 lockdown Christmas parties

PMQs: PM under fire over No 10 lockdown Christmas parties

Boris Johnson says no Covid rules were broken after reports Christmas parties were held in Downing Street at the height of last year's lockdown.

The BBC has spoken to a source who attended a Downing Street gathering on 18 December, as first reported in the Mirror newspaper.

They said "several dozen" people were at the event, where party games were played and food and drink served.

The PM did not deny parties were held but said "all guidance was followed".

The source at the 18 December gathering said it had gone on past midnight, and that the "mood was down", with concern building about the new Kent variant of coronavirus.

Downing Street was asked for a comment about the source's claim but declined to add to what it had said earlier about all guidelines being followed.

London was placed under Tier 3 lockdown restrictions on 14 December last year, after which time people were not allowed to mix indoors with anyone outside their household or support bubble.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of hypocrisy for flouting the rules he had ordered the rest of the country to follow.

At Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir said: "Does the prime minister really expect the country to believe that while people were banned from seeing their loved ones at Christmas last year, it was fine for him and his friends to throw a boozy party in Downing Street?"

He accused the PM of "taking the British public for fools".

Mr Johnson said all Covid rules had been followed in Downing Street and he took a swipe at Sir Keir's reported disagreements with Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner.

"Can I recommend to (him) that he does the same with his own Christmas party, which is advertised for 15 December, to which unaccountably he's failed to invite the deputy leader," said the PM.

'Potential illegality'


The SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, accused the prime minister of hosting an event that broke lockdown rules.

"The prime minister might be denying it but I've spoken to the Mirror newspaper this morning and they are confirming what happened, and they have legal advice on potential illegality," he said.

"At a time when public health messaging is so vital, how are people possibly expected to trust a prime minister when he thinks it's one rule for him and one rule for everybody else?"

The prime minister said: "He's talking total nonsense. I think he would have been better off, frankly, saying something about the victims of storm Arwen in Scotland."

According to the Mirror, the official No 10 staff Christmas party was cancelled last year, but an unofficial party, which the PM did not attend, took place on 18 December.

The prime minister also gave a speech at a "packed leaving do" for an aide on 27 November, when the country was in its second lockdown and socialising was banned, the paper said.

Mr Johnson has urged people not to cancel their Christmas parties this year, despite the emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

The PM has urged people to get a booster jab and follow new, tighter restrictions, with face masks once again being required on public transport and in shops in England.


Watch: Keir Starmer asks if No 10 held a Christmas party while the rest of the country was in lockdown


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Street justice isn’t pretty but how else do you deal with this kind of insanity? Sometimes someone needs to standup and say something
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered accord at White House outlining transit link via southern Armenia
Barcelona Resolves Captaincy Issue with Marc-André ter Stegen
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Trump Urges Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to Resign Over Alleged Chinese Business Ties
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
×