Wallpaper: “Partygate”
In late November, British media began reporting on parties at 10 Downing Street and other government properties. First, it was about a suspicious Christmas party that Johnson’s employees arranged the year before – when large parts of the country were forced to stay away from their loved ones in a strict lockdown.
The government initially insisted that no parties had taken place at all and that all covid rules had been followed in all situations. Then picture after picture began to leak from various parties.
At one point earlier during the pandemic, in May 2020, it turned out that more than 100 people had attended an event in the garden at 10 Downing Street, where guests were asked to bring their own alcohol.
During the pandemic, regular “wine Fridays” were also held at the Government Offices, where the Prime Minister is often said to have participated.
In April last year, farewell parties were held for two of Johnson’s employees at the Government Offices, including on the same day as Prince Philip was buried. The contrast to the pictures of the queen who was forced to sit alone at her husband’s funeral aroused great resentment among the British. However, the Prime Minister himself was not present at these parties.
The police have investigated several of the parties. To date, at least 83 people – including Boris Johnson, his wife and Finance Minister Rishi Sunak – have been fined for violating infection control rules.
The independent official Sue Gray was commissioned to review the whole thing and then went through a total of 16 different events. In a 37-page report, for example, there were pictures of the Prime Minister toasting with colleagues, as well as information about party participants who vomited and who rocked the Prime Minister’s son’s swing in the garden.
“Excessive alcohol consumption is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any given time,” she wrote in the report, emphasizing that the events show a lack of both leadership and judgment.
Boris Johnson’s most loyal supporters knocked on their tables and the roar spread far beyond the room in which the Conservative Party (Tories) MPs gathered. The Prime Minister had passed the no – confidence vote within the party.
211 of the members voted for the Prime Minister, only 148 approved the no-confidence vote – and Johnson can remain.
At least temporarily.
For Johnson’s political survival is fragile, he did secure the necessary majority of the votes, but the 41 percent who voted against Johnson are more than the 36 percent who voted against then-Prime Minister Theresa May in a similar process in 2018. May resigned a year later, to as a result of the complications that had arisen around the country’s exit from the EU.
Labor leader: Betray the British
And just minutes after the result became public, Labor leader Keir Starmer told reporters that the Tories betrayed the British.
– Tonight they had a choice. To show that they have a backbone or to support Boris Johnson. The British people are tired of this. Tired of a prime minister who promises big but never comes up with a result, he said according to Sky News.
Johnson’s own party received all the more support for the Prime Minister.
Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi said according to Sky News that Johnson took a “great” victory and that the focus must now be on delivering results in politics.
– It’s a vote. 50 percent plus one vote is a majority. Boris did much better than that.
Minister of Culture Nadine Dorrie, one of Johnson’s loudest supporters, wrote on Twitter that it was now “time to go back to work”.
Not everyone was equally positive. One of the more senior members of parliament, Roger Gale, says according to the BBC that he will continue to support the party’s policies, “but not the prime minister”.
Last attempt to get support
In a final attempt to get as many members as possible with him, Johnson gave a fiery speech to several of them late in the afternoon, in a closed meeting.
According to sources to, among others, The Times, he is there to have warned of a “conservative civil war” and that only the opposition benefits from his removal. And so the members listened.
Boris Johnson’s last eight months have been marked by the so-called “partygate” scandal. Step by step, it has been revealed how various gatherings and festivities were arranged at the Government Offices in 10 Downing Street – during a time when residents were otherwise expected to stay isolated in their homes.
Apologized
Independent official Sue Gray was commissioned to review what had happened. She submitted her report almost two weeks ago and then demanded that the top management be held responsible for a party culture that has been formed.
Johnson has apologized several times, including to Queen Elizabeth for an event held the same day her husband Prince Philip was buried under pandemic restrictions.
The Conservative Party went through a similar process just a few years ago. In 2018, distrust was aroused against the then Prime Minister Theresa May, but she won it with 63 percent of the vote. However, she resigned a year later, due to the complications that had arisen around the country’s exit from the EU.
Britain goes to the polls next time in 2025.
Employees are said to have partyed at it on 10 Downing Street, during pandemic. Stock Photography.