Keir Starmer has launched a scathing attack on the Met police for refusing to reveal how many partygate fines they are giving out.
The Met say they will continue issuing fixed penalty notices for up to 12 No10 parties but not give updates for at least 13 days when voting in local elections is over.
But in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mirror, the nation’s former chief prosecutor hit back: “They should continue to take their decisions and make those decisions public as they were before.
“And the PM must disclose if he gets further fines. The Met police should not have changed their practice.
“Criminal charges are brought all the time, elections or no elections. It’s in the public interest to know who has received fines, particularly those high up in government.”
It is understood that penalties for the BYOB - bring-your-own-bottle - event on 20th May 2020 began dropping in inboxes on Friday.
The PM arrived at that party - which he insists was a “work event” - at 6pm, stayed for 25 minutes, and then disappeared upstairs for a scheduled 28 minute call with the Queen at 6.30.
But No10 says that so far he has received no fine beyond the one 13 days ago for his birthday party in the Cabinet Room on 19th June 2020.
As Parliament goes into meltdown over partygate, Jeremy Hunt is now emerging as favourite among Tory MPs to become the next PM.
The former Health Secretary’s star has risen as that of Chancellor Rishi Sunak has fallen over Mrs Sunak’s tax affairs.
And insiders now reckon Mr Hunt would get the powerful backing of former PM Theresa May who has made no secret of her disdain for the chaotic, law breaking premiership of her successor.
A Whitehall source said: “Hunt is a One Nation Conservative like her and that’s why I think he would get her support.
“That’s the direction she feels the party should be going in, but she never got the chance and has had to watch as Boris Johnson wrecks everything.”
Mrs May is saying nothing about who she will go for in a leadership contest. And there was not a peep from Mr Hunt when the Sunday Mirror put the question to him.
But he already has a campaign team in place from his last bid for the leadership and the challengers he must see off are Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Foreign Affairs Committee chair Tom Tugendhat.
A senior Tory said: “Both Jeremy and Tom know that Liz is the darling of the grassroots.
“If she makes it to the final two then the membership will overwhelmingly vote her in.”
The Sunday Mirror revealed how Mr Hunt and Mr Sunak forged a “non-aggression pact” for the contest to freeze Ms Truss out.
The source added: “Now he’s going to need to do the same thing with Tom if one of them is to get the top job.”
Also in the frame is Trade minister Penny Mordaunt, already promising MPs ministerial jobs if they back her for PM, and dark horse candidate, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, whose handling of the Ukraine War is impressing Tories.
Boris Johnson thought he was getting away with it when the first £50 fine dropped for attending his own birthday party.
Tory MPs had been expecting that, and put it about this was no time to change leader while the PM was battling with the war in Ukraine.
Letters of no confidence to backbench shop steward Sir Graham Brady - who needs 54 of them to trigger a vote - were withdrawn.
But the mood quickly changed as their inboxes began to fill up with emails from angry constituents saying the PM had to go.
Former Immigration minister Caroline Nokes, now chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, received hundreds.
She wrote: “One surpassed all others. It was from a constituent who lost his three-year-old child to a terminal illness.
“The family abided by all the rules, held a funeral for 30 people, made phone calls to loved ones and relatives and told them they could not attend the funeral because that would break the limit on numbers.”
That was enough to make her decide her letter had to stay in.
The Labour leader said: “Boris Johnson should do the right thing, which is to go. But he won’t because he has no shame.
“So it’s up to Tory MPs. There has been a political shift in Parliament. Tory MPs are no longer going to defend the indefensible.
“Now they need to follow up because only they can remove him.”
A Whitehall insider added: “The penny dropped with MPs that Britain was not actually at war. And a change of prime minister would not change the UK’s support for Ukraine.”
And as Labour put the boot in with calls for a Privileges Committee inquiry into whether the PM had lied to Parliament Tory opposition to the PM hardened even more.
First they were told that if they voted with Labour they would be chucked out of the Parliamentary party - which meant those who had already put letters in would have them declared void.
When MPs responded with threats of mass abstentions instead, Mr Johnson caved in to the inevitable and allowed the inquiry to go ahead.
And that was when even allies began to turn on him. Former chief whip Mark Harper put in his letter and predicted a leadership election by July.
Brexit fanatic Steve Baker, who brought down Theresa May, told Mr Johnson: “The gig’s up.”
The Privileges Committee is investigating allegations that the PM lied to MPs four times.
It has the power to order No10 to release 300 pictures taken by official photographers of gatherings to prove it.
If found guilty Mr Johnson faces suspension from Parliament, a humiliating position for a PM to find himself in.
Sir Keir said: “Under the ministerial code every expectation would be that he should go. But this PM lacks basic honesty and integrity.
“But I’d be very surprised if there was a finding that he deliberately misled Parliament for Tory MPs not to say he has to go.”
And the next big test will be on May 6 when local election results come in. The loss of 800 Tory councillors and the PM will survive - more than 1,000 and he’s in serious trouble.
One Tory MP said: “We held our noses and backed him in 2019 despite all his failings because he was a vote winner.
“If it turns out he is now a vote-loser we’ll get rid of him pronto. The Tory party is ruthless like that.”
Five Flashpoints for Boris Johnson
- May 5: Local elections. Bad Tory results and the PM is skating on wafer thin ice..
- May 6: Police announce details of the fines they gave out during the campaign.
- June: Cabinet enforcer Sue Gray’s report released once police have completed their investigation.
- July 22: Parliament breaks up for the Summer. If Boris is still PM he’s home and dry until...
- September: When the Privileges Committee decides if he is a liar.
