The Metropolitan Police on Tuesday (July 4) reopened an investigation into possible breaches of Covid rules during a Christmas 2020 gathering at Conservative Party headquarters.
This follows “new evidence” being provided to officers, specifically a video of two aides dancing together when the UK was under lockdown measures.
Photos of the gathering, which showed more than 20 people standing close together with many holding drinks, first surfaced in December 2022. But the Met Police said at the time that there was inadequate proof of law-breaking and did not impose any fines.
The force, also on July 4, announced a probe into “potential breaches” of Covid rules at a Parliament gathering on December 8, 2020. This was when an alleged drinks event happened, which was attended by Conservative MP Sir Bernard Jenkin for his wife’s birthday.
Meanwhile, the force will not open an investigation into further potential breaches of the regulations in Downing Street. Furthermore, Thames Valley Police will not investigate potential breaches at Chequers, the country residence of British prime ministers, when Boris Johnson was in office.
🚨 | BREAKING: A first ever video of partygate has been leaked showing the Tories drinking, dancing and LAUGHING at breaking covid rules
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) June 17, 2023
“Are you filming this? As long as we’re not steaming that we’re like, bending the rules ahahah” pic.twitter.com/7Rd5E3PMzI
As reported by Sky News, the Met Police previously issued 126 fixed penalty notice (FPNs) referrals following a probe into claims of Covid rule-breaching parties at Downing Street and Whitehall — an investigation named Operation Hillman.
When Partygate was first investigated, it helped to trigger Mr Johnson’s resignation as prime minister on July 7, 2022. One year on, why did he resign? Here’s all you need to know.
Why did Boris Johnson resign as prime minister?
Mr Johnson went from in 2019 leading the Conservative Party to their biggest election victory since 1987, to losing all support from his MPs within three years.
His departure were fuelled by numerous scandals, with the most prominent being Partygate.
Downing Street's admission that Mr Johnson was unaware of "specific allegations" against Chris Pincher before hiring him as deputy chief whip in February 2022 was the first blow to the former prime minister.
Even though it was ultimately revealed to be false, ministers continued to repeat this statement.
Then came Partygate, when Mr Johnson was fined for breaking lockdown rules after attending a gathering on his birthday in June 2020.
Another major downfall for Mr Johnson was his handling of inflation. Although many of the reasons for high inflation was out of Mr Johnson’s control, his critics hit out at him for raising tax in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
Another crisis for Mr Johnson came in October 2021. The House of Commons Committee recommended a 30-day suspension for then-Conservative MP Owen Paterson for violating lobbying laws, according to the committee, in an effort to help the firms he was paid to advise.
Mr Paterson was forced to retire following a blacklash. Mr Johnson later acknowledged that his handling of the matter had "crashed the car."
Why did Boris Johnson resign as an MP?
After a Partygate scandal inquiry revealed Johnson had misled Parliament and recommended a lengthy suspension from the House of Commons, Mr Johnson resigned as a Conservative MP in June 2023.
In an angry tirade, Mr Johnson said the inquiry was an attempt to remove him from office. His allies said the investigation qas a "witch-hunt".
To avoid being pushed, he made the decision to jump.
He also lambasted Rishi Sunak's administration in a furious 1,000-word letter, accusing it of raising taxes, not being sufficiently conservative, and failing to capitalise on Brexit.
Mr Johnson suggested he would return to politics by saying he was “very sad to be leaving Parliament — at least for now”.
