Boris Johnson was on Monday battling a renewed Conservative threat to his leadership, in the wake of a long-awaited and highly critical report on the party culture at the heart of his government.
The prime minister’s stumbling response to the report into the so-called “partygate” affair by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, rekindled talk of a potential leadership challenge and sparked alarm in Downing Street.
Theresa May, former prime minister, led the criticism of Johnson, former chief whip Andrew Mitchell withdrew his support, and ministerial aide Angela Richardson quit, citing “deep disappointment” over the scandal.
“It was awful,” said one normally loyal, long-serving Tory MP, referring to Johnson’s House of Commons response to the report, which was in turns remorseful, bullish and combative. “I’m considering my position overnight.”
Johnson appealed to Tory MPs at a private meeting on Monday to stick with him, promising that there would no new revelations and saying that he took Covid lockdowns seriously: “I nearly died,” he said.
He hinted at a cabinet reshuffle and said that Lynton Crosby, the Australian electoral strategist and architect of previous Tory election victories, was helping to oversee a fightback.
Meanwhile, Downing Street, under pressure from Tory MPs, vowed to publish Gray’s full report after the conclusion of a Metropolitan Police inquiry into 12 separate alleged parties in Downing Street and the Whitehall estate.
Only hours earlier Johnson had refused to offer that assurance, infuriating MPs. He also refused to say if had attended a party in his Downing Street flat on November 13 2020, one of the events being probed by the Met.
Gray’s report confirmed that two parties attended by Johnson are being investigated by the Met. Sir Keir Starmer, Labour party leader, told MPs “there can be no doubt” that Johnson was himself under criminal investigation.
The report was heavily rewritten before publication, at the request of the force, excising criticism over the most serious allegations of Covid lockdown-breaching parties.
That led to speculation that Johnson would ride out the storm. But even in its watered-down form, Gray’s report was scathing about “failures of leadership and judgment” in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office.
Johnson, who has refused to acknowledge that parties took place and insisted that Covid guidelines were followed, faced allegations in the House of Commons — denied by Johnson — that he misled MPs.
Starmer said the report showed that Johnson was “unfit for office”, and urged Tory MPs to remove the prime minister.
Gray confirmed that the police are probing a “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street garden on May 20 2020 and the prime minister’s birthday party on June 18 2020. Number 10 has confirmed that Johnson attended both events.
The Gray report noted “a serious failure” to observe the high standards expected of those in positions of authority.
Gray said “too little thought” had been given to whether parties held in the midst of a lockdown were appropriate and some of the behaviour around them was “difficult to justify”.
The report stated that new steps should be taken to prevent “the excessive consumption of alcohol” in government offices and added that some staff were inhibited in raising concerns about what was going on.
Tory rebels will now have to decide whether to move against Johnson. A total of 54 MPs, 15 per cent of the parliamentary party, could trigger a leadership challenge if they request a confidence vote.
One ally of the prime minister said a cabinet reshuffle was expected, along with a clear-out of party whips — Johnson’s parliamentary enforcers.
Gray’s report was watered down after the Metropolitan Police requested that it should make only “minimal reference” to the specific allegations of lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall that it is investigating.
The Met said on Monday that it was reviewing “more than 300 images and over 500 pages of information” provided by Gray’s team and that it would “fast-track its investigation”.
Catherine Roper, the senior officer in charge of the inquiry, said people would be contacted about the allegations “in a matter of weeks”. She said that the investigation would “absolutely” not last more than a year.
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