5 keys to the ‘partygate’ scandal

So far, the celebration of 16 “illegal” parties between May 2020 and December 2021 in which the covid sanitary measures imposed by the Johnson Government were not respected. On June 19, 2020, for example, the British Prime Minister celebrated his birthday with a party in Downing Street attended by around 30 people, even though indoor social gatherings were banned at the time. Along the same lines, “work meetings” transcended, some in rooms inside the official residence and the seat of government in which Social distances were not respected alcohol was drunk and there was even music and dancing. Johnson tried to justify his presence at that and similar staff farewell meetings. Still, scandals followed. For example, after the farewell party for the Director of Communications james slack, After midnight, cleaners were met with wine splatters on the walls and messages warning participants to leave the building through the back door, according to the report.

The London Metropolitan Police conducted an investigation shortly after the phenomenon broke out. After that, the senior official was entrusted Sue Gray at parliamentary level. The parliamentary report 37 pages study 16 parties and contains nine photos. Four of them are from Johnson’s birthday in June 2020, in the room where the councils of ministers are held. The details in the report on parties in Downing Street during the pandemic are revealing of the climate of indifference to the rules and the law that governed the official residence of the Prime Minister.

The chain of leaks of information and images of the forbidden parties at number 10 Downing Street It began last December 2021. At that time, Johnson denied that there had been parties in the residence and assured that the health safety recommendations had always been complied with in his residence and among his team. However, hours after this statement, a video was leaked of communication staff jokingly rehearsing how to explain the Downing Street parties at a press conference. The video was recorded on December 22 last year. Since then, details of what happened have not ceased to be known. After the investigation, which has been putting details on the table for six months, Boris Johnson accepted the results by apologizing in the House of Commons, which he repeated in a subsequent press conference, as he had done on previous occasions. “I take full responsibility everything that happened under my control.

Johnson He actively and passively denied the existence of these parties on several occasions until the first leaked video. Then, in December 2020, a video was made public in which his press secretary, Allegra Stratton, He joked by faking a press conference in which he was asked about “parties in Downing Street” in the middle of the second wave of coronavirus infections. There have been many scandals during the Johnson government, but the parties in Downing Street during confinement, the so-called ‘partygate’, have caused a huge wave of rejection among their own deputies and among the citizens. The first to announce her resignation due to the scandals was Munira Mirza, head of the political department and one of Johnson’s faithful advisers for more than a decade. Behind her, numerous charges followed in her wake. Jack DoyleDowning Street Communications Director, Martin ReynoldsPrivate Secretary to the Prime Minister and convener of a ‘party’ with 100 people during the pandemic o Dan RosenfieldDirector of Personnel on Johnson’s team, are some of the names.

Of the 126 fines filed by the British police, 53 have been directed at men and 73 at women. In addition, 28 people have received more than one sanction. The police explained that the fines refer to eight of the dates on which events were held at the prime minister’s residence and other government offices between May 2020 and April 2021.