SUE GRAY’S probe into the Downing Street Partygate affair is so damning that senior officials believe it will leave Boris Johnson with no choice but to resign, according to reports this morning.
The Times says that the senior civil servant is understood to be highly critical of the Prime Minister both for attending some of the events and for the culture in No 10 under his leadership.
“Sue’s report is excoriating. It will make things incredibly difficult for the prime minister,” the official told the paper. “There’s an immense amount of pressure on her — her report could be enough to end him. No official has ever been in a position like this before.”
It’s known that the Conservative leader attended at least six of the 12 events in Downing Street that are being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
He has already been fined for one, a celebration for his 56th birthday held in the Cabinet Room.
Late last week, police started issuing fines for a second event attended by Mr Johnson, a “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020.
The event was organised by his principal private secretary at the time. Johnson went with his then-fiancée, Carrie Symonds, and more than 50 Downing Street staff.
The Prime Minister has said he believed it was a work event. He has not yet received a fine.
In an interim report released at the end of January, Ms Gray said the parties in and around Downing Street during the pandemic “should not have been allowed to take place”.
She said some of the behaviour was “difficult to justify” and betrayed “failures of leadership and judgment” in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office.
The official said the Metropolitan Police’s belated investigation into the gatherings meant she was unable to provide a “meaningful report” setting out and analysing the “extensive factual information” she had gathered from 70 interviews and other sources.
Her full report will be published once the force has concluded its investigation.
Meanwhile, the i newspaper reports that a handful of Tory MPs are plotting to oust the Prime Minister if the party performs poorly at next month’s local elections.
On Sunday, party chairman Oliver Dowden admitted the local elections could be difficult, but told Sky News there was a “very strong case for the Prime Minister remaining in office”.
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