Boris Johnson faced fresh calls from Tory MPs to quit following the release of Sue Gray’s scathing report into raucous parties in Number 10 during lockdown restrictions.
Former minister Tobias Ellwood and backbencher Julian Sturdy described partygate as a “distraction” during a challenging time for the country.
In a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday evening, the MP for York Outer said: “Questions are now being raised about whether the Prime Minister misled Parliament when asked about these events.
“Talking to constituents, it is clear discussions about parties in Downing Street remain a damaging distraction at a time when our country faces massive challenges with war returning to Europe, a global cost of living crisis, and our recovery from the pandemic being more important than ever.
“This is clearly a time when we cannot have any doubt about the honesty, integrity, and personal character of the Prime Minister.
🗣STATEMENT ON SUE GRAY REPORT
— Julian Sturdy MP (@JulianSturdy) May 25, 2022
Following the publication of the full Sue Gray report, I feel it is now in the public interest for the Prime Minister to resign. pic.twitter.com/oXfkb7KmrS
“While I thought it important to wait for the conclusion of the Metropolitan Police investigation and the publication of the Sue Gray report, I am now unable to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt and feel it is now in the public interest for him to resign.”
Mr Ellwood was heckled by fellow Tory MPs in the Commons chamber as he questioned whether they could continue to defend Mr Johnson’s behaviour.
The MP said of the report into lockdown-busting parties in No 10: “This is a damning report about the absence of leadership, focus and discipline in No 10 - the one place where you expect to find those attributes in abundance.
“I’ve made my point and my position very clear to the Prime Minister: he does not have my support.
“But a question I humbly put to my colleagues is ‘are you willing day in and day out to defend this behaviour publicly?’”
The Prime Minister said on Wednesday that he recognised people are “indignant” over the damning findings of Ms Gray’s report into law-breaking at the heart of Government.
He said he takes “full responsibility” for the scandal but sought to play down his personal involvement in the gatherings detailed in the report.
Mr Johnson told a Downing Street press conference: “I understand why people are indignant and why people have been angry at what took place.”
Pressed on whether he ever considered resigning, he responded: “I overwhelmingly feel it is my job to get on and deliver.
“No matter how bitter and painful that the conclusions of this may be - and they are - and no matter how humbling they are, I have got to keep moving forward and the Government has got to keep moving. And we are.”
Many Tory MPs gave a muted response to the report but a snap poll from YouGov suggested three in five Britons want Mr Johnson to quit.
But a Conservative ally of Mr Johnson argued it would be “ludicrous” for him to resign now.
One damning new detail was the “multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment” of cleaning and security staff during the events, which Ms Gray said was “unacceptable”.
Mr Johnson apologised, described their treatment as “repugnant” and “utterly intolerable”, and said he has started “to make some inquiries” to find out who was behind the behaviour.
Ms Gray added: “The events that I investigated were attended by leaders in Government. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen.”
But senior civil servant Ms Gray condemned the wider culture that had been allowed to develop under Mr Johnson’s leadership.
She said some junior officials who attended parties “believed that their involvement in some of these events was permitted given the attendance of senior leaders”.
“The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture,” she added.
“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government.
“The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons the report “laid bare the rot” in No 10 and called on Tory MPs to tell Mr Johnson “the game is up” and that it is “time to pack his bags”.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called on the Prime Minister to resign for “orchestrating” the scenes in Downing Street.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Any other PM would be forced to resign by a report as damaging as this, yet still Conservative MPs defend Johnson and allow him to cling on.”
But it is Conservative MPs who will decide his fate, and Mr Johnson further apologised at a closed-doors meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers.
Earlier, Mr Ellwood, a prominent critic of the Prime Minister, challenged Mr Johnson over the “damning report” which revealed an “absence of leadership, focus and discipline in No 10”.
He asked fellow Tories “Are you willing day in and day out to defend this behaviour publicly?” and “Can we win the general election on this current trajectory?”
The inquiry’s findings include:
- Staff were drinking in No 10 until the early hours of the morning on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, with the last departure recorded at 4.20am.
- Mr Johnson joined five advisers in a “food and alcohol” event in his Downing Street flat on the evening of the announcement of Dominic Cummings’ departure as chief adviser.
- Then-proprietary and ethics chief Helen MacNamara provided a karaoke machine for a Cabinet Office gathering where one individual was sick and there was a “minor altercation” between two others.
- Then-senior adviser to the Prime Minister Martin Reynolds boasted “we seem to have got away with” a bring-your-own-booze garden party in a WhatsApp message to a special adviser.
- Mr Johnson brought cheese and wine from his own flat to a garden gathering on May 15 2020.
The report includes a series of photos, with Mr Johnson pictured at the surprise birthday party in the Cabinet Room on June 19 2020 for which he received a fine.
He is seen with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, with sandwiches, juice and what appears to be lager. In one picture Mr Johnson is seen raising a can of beer aloft.
In a Commons statement, Mr Johnson repeated his apology over the birthday party and added: “I take full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch.
“Sue Gray’s report has emphasised that it is up to the political leadership in Number 10 to take ultimate responsibility and, of course, I do.”
Mr Johnson said he was “humbled” by the experience and had learned his lesson.
