British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a prolonged political scandal, widely known as “Partygate,” over gatherings held at 10 Downing Street and other government offices while COVID-19 restrictions limited social gatherings across England. The controversy emerged publicly in late 2021 after reports that parties and other gatherings had taken place during periods when members of the public were required to observe stringent restrictions. Johnson initially told the House of Commons that COVID guidance had been followed in Downing Street and later said he had been repeatedly assured that no party had taken place and no rules had been broken.
The controversy intensified in January 2022 after the publication of an email inviting Downing Street staff to socially distanced drinks in the garden on May 20, 2020 and asking attendees to bring their own alcohol. Johnson acknowledged attending the gathering. In Parliament on January 12, he apologized and said that he had believed it was a work event, while conceding that he should have recognized how the gathering would appear to millions of people who had followed the restrictions. An investigation led by senior civil servant Sue Gray subsequently examined a series of gatherings in Downing Street and Whitehall. Her final report concluded that some events should not have been allowed to occur and that senior political and official leadership had to bear responsibility for the culture in which they developed.
The Metropolitan Police separately investigated possible breaches of COVID regulations and ultimately issued 126 fixed penalty notices to 83 people in connection with events on eight dates. Johnson received a fixed penalty notice for a gathering in the Cabinet Room on June 19, 2020, his birthday. On April 12, 2022, he announced that he had paid the fine, offered a “full apology,” acknowledged that the police had concluded the gathering breached the rules, and said that people had a right to expect better from him. He apologized again to Parliament on April 19 and, following publication of the Gray report in May, said that he took full responsibility for what had happened on his watch.
Partygate also became a controversy over Johnson’s truthfulness to Parliament. In December 2021, he had told members of Parliament that guidance had been followed and that he had received assurances that no COVID rules had been broken. The House of Commons referred the matter to its Committee of Privileges in April 2022 to determine whether Johnson had misled Parliament. Johnson maintained that he had not intentionally misled lawmakers and said that when he made his earlier statements he believed them to be accurate.
In June 2023, however, the cross-party Committee of Privileges concluded that Johnson had deliberately misled the House of Commons and the committee. It found that he had knowledge of the COVID rules and guidance as well as knowledge of breaches that occurred in Downing Street, and that some of his denials and explanations were deliberately disingenuous. The committee concluded that his conduct amounted to a serious contempt of the House and said that, had he remained an MP, it would have recommended a 90-day suspension. Johnson resigned from Parliament shortly before publication of the final report and strongly rejected its conclusions, describing the investigation as politically motivated and maintaining that he had not deliberately or knowingly lied to Parliament.
Boris Johnson’s April 19, 2022 apology in the House of Commons:
Mr. Speaker, I want to apologize. I know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices over the last 18 months. I know the anguish they’ve been through. Unable to mourn their relatives. Unable to live their lives as they want. Or to do the things they love. And I know the rage they feel with me and with the government I lead when they think that Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules. And though I cannot anticipate the conclusions of the current inquiry, I have learned enough to know that there were things we simply did not get right and I must take responsibility. No10 is a big department with the gardeners as an extension of the office, which has been in constant use because of the role of fresh air in stopping the virus. And when I went into that garden just after 6 on the 20th of May 2020, to thank groups of staff before going back into my office 25 minutes later, to continue working, I believed implicitly that this was a work event. But Mr. Speaker, with hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside. I should have found some other way to thank them. And I should have recognized that even if it could be said technically to fall within the guidance, there would be millions and millions of people who simply would not see it that way. People who suffered terribly. People who were forbidden from meeting loved ones at all, inside or outside, and to them and to this house, I offer my heartfelt apologies. And all I ask is that Sue Grey be allowed to complete her inquiry into that day and several others so that the full facts can be established. And I would of course come back to this house and make a statement.
Boris Johnson’s April 12, 2022 statement after receiving a fixed penalty notice:
Today I have received a fixed penalty notice from the Metropolitan Police relating to an event in Downing Street on 19th June 2020, and let me say immediately that I have paid the fine and I once again offer a full apology. And in a spirit of openness and humility, I want to be completely clear about what happened on that date.
My day began shortly after 7am, and I chaired eight meetings in No10, including the Cabinet Committee deciding Covid strategy, I visited a school in Hemel Hempstead, which took me out of Downing Street for over four hours. And amongst all these engagements, on a day that happened to be my birthday, there was a brief gathering in the Cabinet Room shortly after 2pm, lasting for less than 10 minutes, during which people I work with kindly passed on their good wishes.
And I have to say in all frankness, at the time, it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules. But of course the police have found otherwise and I fully respect the outcome of their investigation. I understand the anger that many will feel that I myself fell short when it came to observing the very rules which the Government I lead had introduced to protect the public, and I accept in all sincerity that people had a right to expect better.
Now I feel an even greater sense of obligation to deliver on the priorities of the British people: strengthening our economy, creating jobs and opportunities, levelling up the whole United Kingdom, now, of course, ensuring that Putin fails in Ukraine, and easing the burden imposed on hard-working families caused by higher energy prices. I will take forward that task with due humility, but with maximum determination to fulfill my duty and do what is best for the country I serve.
