“My initial reaction at the time was that this was some kind of try-on,” Boris Johnson said of the moment when I first approached Downing Street with the news we were about to publish a story about lockdown parties at the heart of government.
“At the time, it seemed implausible to me that there could have been an illegal event at No 10 almost a year earlier that I had not heard about before,” the former prime minister said in his written evidence to the privileges committee on Tuesday.
It was a sense of incredulity that many shared. When I was first handed what I have described as a “metaphorical brown paper envelope” of evidence in October 2021 that Covid rules had been broken in No 10, I struggled to believe it.
Like millions of others, I felt I had done my bit to keep others safe during the pandemic by sticking to the rules. The prospect of those who had not only drawn up the draconian laws and guidance but also expected the rest of us to live by them, breaking those very rules themselves, was an uncomfortable one.
The evidence was not, on its own, enough for the Daily Mirror, for which I worked at the time, to publish a story breaking what was to become known as the “Partygate” scandal. But over the subsequent weeks I spoke to multiple contacts, checked details, corroborated events, and gradually pieced the story of what had gone on behind that famous black door during the pandemic.
Then on Tuesday 30 November 2021, Dr Jenny Harries, chief of the UK Health Security Agency, toured television and radio studios telling the public it would be wise to “decrease our social contacts” in the run up to Christmas in light of the rising Omicron variant.
Her remarks caused panic in Downing Street, which was desperate to avoid any suggestion that there could be a repeat of the chaos the previous Christmas, or the trauma felt by millions over the previous 18 months.
Johnson’s official spokesperson told us: “Jenny Harries provides advice to the government, she is not a government minister. The public should follow the guidance as set out by the government and indeed the prime minister.”
It felt the moment was right to publish. I called the No 10 press team to put the allegations to them and let them know an email – the one referred to by Johnson in his written testimony – was on its way. It arrived at 3.33pm. Just under two hours later their brief response landed: “Covid rules have been followed at all times.”
In his written evidence, Johnson admitted that he “did not anticipate that this would be a big story”. Others were of the same view. When I arrived in the House of Commons the following morning, on Wednesday 1 December, I bumped into several colleagues and Conservative MPs.
“Good story,” one said. “But not sure it goes anywhere”. Another suggested it was a “bubble” issue and that nobody would care. Right until the end of his time in Downing Street, Johnson thought of Partygate as trivial. But it was never about cake or bubbly. It was about there being one set of rules for him, one for everybody else. The public understood that.
Johnson reveals that he was “surprised” the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, went on the attack over the Daily Mirror’s front-page story at prime minister’s questions. I was watching from the press gallery, sandwiched in between two supportive colleagues, feeling slightly sick while we awaited his response. “What I can tell you is that all guidance was followed completely in No 10,” he replied.
Our stories continued, and a week later ITV published a shocking video of Allegra Stratton, a senior Downing Street aide, laughing about the law-breaking gatherings. As he announced an inquiry, Johnson told MPs: “I have been repeatedly assured that the rules were not broken.”
Over the days and weeks that followed as the Mirror and others, including the Guardian, published further revelations, No 10 doubled down – obfuscating, denying and even lying – about what really went on. Government insiders say the tone of the response was set from the top. Johnson’s responses evolved from “all Covid rules have been followed” to “I certainly broke no rules”.
The privileges committee inquiry believes Johnson may have misled the Commons on four separate occasions, not least because he “failed to tell the house about his own knowledge of the gatherings where the rules or guidance had been broken. That is because there is evidence that he attended them.”
When he appears as a witness in front of the cross-party committee on Wednesday, Johnson intends to highlight that there is no “smoking gun” that shows he was warned the gatherings were in breach of the rules.
Yet the MPs have already, in their interim report, said the evidence “strongly suggests” breaches of guidance would have been “obvious” to Johnson at the time. His defence that others in No 10 didn’t know either is unlikely to pass muster.
At the height of the Partygate controversy, one Downing Street source told me: “He would come in and say, ‘Hello everyone, had a hard week? Letting off some steam? Oh great’. The idea that he didn’t know there were drinks is total nonsense. If the PM tells you to ‘let off steam’, he’s basically saying this is fine.”
It is now 16 months since Johnson was first asked questions over Partygate – and gave his responses in the House of Commons. Yet after all that time, and despite the natural justice that some believe has already been served through his loss of office, there are many questions he still has to answer.
