Boris Johnson was told by Scotland Yard that he would only be investigated for two lockdown gatherings in Downing Street, sources have claimed.
The Mirror has been told the Prime Minister was informed by the Met Police that he would be subjected to a limited probe as part of the four-month inquiry.
Mr Johnson on Thursday escaped more Partygate fines after the Metropolitan Police announced it had finally finished its investigation into the lockdown gatherings.
Scotland Yard said it had issued a total of 126 fixed penalty notice to 83 people for events held over an 11-month period during the pandemic.
The number of fines underlines the dramatic scale of law-breaking at the heart of government while the rest of the country stuck to strict lockdown rules.
But senior insiders said the PM had told colleagues he had been informed by police that he would only be investigated for two of the six gatherings he was believed to have attended.
Detectives are believed to have looked into his surprise birthday bash on 19 June 2020 and the so-called Abba party in the official Downing Street flat he shares with wife Carrie on 13 Nov 2020.
It is unclear why police felt it was "reasonably necessary" for Mr Johnson to be at the other events for work purposes while the other attendees were fined.
But Scotland Yard confirmed it had set a high bar for evidence in their investigation, prompting speculation that detectives only looked into events where there was photographic evidence of the PM.
The Mirror revealed earlier this year that No 10’s official tax-payer funded photographer took pictures of Mr Johnson at his birthday bash on 19 June 2020.
His former top aide Dominic Cummings has previously alleged there are photos of parties held in the PM’s grace and favour flat.
Downing Street declined to comment - but did not deny that the PM had been told he would only be investigated for two of the gatherings.
Despite dozens of aides receiving fines the PM, who attended six of the same events, was told by police he would not face further penalties.
Junior officials working in No 10 told the Mirror they were "unhappy" that they'd ended up "carrying the can" for rule-breaking during lockdown when the PM had escaped further censure.
The Johnsons are believed to have escaped fines for the gathering in their official flat on 13 November 2020 because they argued it was a work event.
It was previously reported that Abba music could be heard blasting from the flat as the group celebrated the departure of bitter rival Dominic Cummings.
Sources have told the Mirror that they were "all getting totally plastered" until the early hours the evening after the PM's former top aide left.
But Mrs Johnson, who took legal advice before submitting her questionnaire, is said to have told police the gathering of her friends, who are also political aides, was a strategy meeting.
Meanwhile the PM, who also consulted a top lawyer, is believed to have claimed he was interviewing one of his wife's friends, who is a government advisor, for a new job.
The other four events the PM attended - and for which others received fines - included the BYOB garden party.
He was not asked to fill in a questionnaire as a loophole in the law at the time, which was later closed, permitted him to be in his own garden.
Mr Johnson was also present at three separate leaving bashes including that of his ex- spin doctor Lee Cain at which he was said to have encouraged staff to gather for drinks.
Covid laws expert Adam Wagner raised questions about how civil servants got fined but Mr Johnson didn’t when they attended the same events.
“I don’t really understand how he can attend, participate in what were deemed to be illegal gatherings unless, for each one, the people who stayed on later did something different and were fined for that reason," he said.
Mr Johnson faced further calls to quit after repeatedly insisting in the House of Commons and elsewhere that no rules had been broken in Downing Street.
Top civil servant Sue Gray is now expected to publish her report into the Partygate scandal next week.
It could yet be a moment of peril for the PM as the report is expected to be damning for the PM personally, his top team and the wider culture in Downing Street.
However, it is widely believed that the two by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton could be as dangerous for the PM as they could deal a serious blow to his vote-winning reputation.
Mr Johnson became the first sitting PM to be found to have broken the law last month when he was fined over his lockdown birthday party in June 2020.
His wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak also received penalties for attending the event in the Cabinet room, where Mrs Johnson provided a cake in a Tupperware box and staff sang happy birthday.
But Mr Johnson and his wife have both been informed they will not be fined again.
“The Met has confirmed they are taking no further action as regards the Prime Minister,” his official spokesperson said.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, who had not been fined before now, is understood not among the last tranche of penalties, officials said.
Downing Street said that Mr Johnson would update Parliament soon after Ms Gray, who saw hundreds of pictures and documents as part of her probe, publishes her report.
The PM's official spokesman said: "I would say the Prime Minister is pleased the investigation has concluded.
"We'd like to thank the Met Police for their work in bringing this investigation to completion."
Mr Johnson, who has so far survived the row despite unease among Tory MPs, will then face an inquiry by the Commons privileges committee.
This will investigate whether he deliberately misled the House of Commons, historically a resignation matter, by claiming on multiple occasions that no rules were broken.
Police looked at 12 parties over eight dates as part of the £460,000 four-month-long Operation Hillman but have not confirmed which
resulted in fines.
Scotland Yard's acting deputy commissioner Helen Ball said: "In total we have made 126 referrals for a fixed-penalty notice to be issued.
"Some of those referrals were for more than one fixed-penalty notice to be issued - 28 people have been referred for between two and five fixed-penalty notices."
It means of the 83 people who got fined - 35 men and 48 women - some 55 got one fine each, and the other 71 fines were shared between 28 people who got multiple fines.
In a statement, the Met said that while it did not routinely investigate historical Covid breaches, it would do so if there was evidence those involved knew they were breaking rules.
It would also probe retrospectively where the case was clear and where not investigating would "significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law”.
ADC Ball insisted the investigation was "thorough and impartial" and completed as quickly as possible given the scale of information and need for strong evidence.
Op Hillman saw 12 detectives work through 345 documents, including emails, door logs, diary entries and witness statements, 510
photographs and CCTV images and 204 questionnaires.
Safiah Ngah of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice said: "We've spent years calling for lessons to be learnt in order for lives to be saved, all the while the Government told us they were.
"How can that possibly be the case when they either didn’t know the rules they set for us all, didn’t care about them or thought they only applied to people less important than them."
She added: "Conservative MPs promised they would make their mind up about the Prime Minister when the Sue Gray report is released.
"There is no reason for that report to be delayed any longer.
"Every day they do not act they allow a man who gaslit us and lied to the faces of the bereaved when he claimed he did 'everything possible' to save our loved ones remain the highest office in the land."
Labour leader Keir Starmer, facing his own police inquiry for potential rule-breaking, said: “My view of the PM hasn't changed.
"After an investigation that shows 120-plus breaches of the law in Downing Street, of course he should resign. He’s responsible for the
culture.”
Two polls today suggested that the beergate controversy has not caused Labour any significant damage.
Former Labour home secretary Lord Blunkett raised concerns over the vague details of the Met’s announcement, questioning whether there was a “murky back story” behind it.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, said the investigation showed Downing Street “was fined more times for breaking Covid laws than any other address in the country”.
He added: “It exposes a shocking level of criminality at the heart of Johnson’s No 10.
"It beggars belief that Conservative MPs are allowing our great country to be run by a Prime Minister who broke the law then repeatedly lied about it.”
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said there was “no question” the Partygate affair had been "damaging" for Mr Johnson and the No 10 operation.
"It was wrong, he has apologised a lot for it and so he should, because they lost control of what was happening in Downing Street,” he added.
