Will a lockdown party be the end of Boris Johnson as the UK Prime Minister?
Boris Johnson is facing mounting calls from his own political party, the conservative Tory party, to resign. Calls for resignation come following an admission from Johnson that he attended a drinks party in May 2020 when the rest of the country was on a strict lockdown.
Johnson apologized for how he handled the Downing Street garden party and claimed to understand the public’s “rage” over it.
The drinks gathering was held on May 20, 2020, and was described in the invitation as an outdoor “socially distance” gathering, inviting people to bring their own alcohol. About 100 people were invited to the BYOB party, and approximately 30 attended. May 2020 marked only a few weeks into the pandemic lockdown.
At the time, no one of the public was supposed to be gathering or mixing households. Legal restrictions said that you could not leave your house without a “reasonable excuse,” and that you were only allowed to see one person at a time while exercising.
To say photos of the party did not go over well to the British public is an understatement.
The government is facing mounting pressure over several events that happened during the 2020 lockdowns. One is the garden party. Another is a party in November 2020, which was during the second UK lockdown, that was held at Johnson’s home with his partner Carrie Johnson.
At that time in November, Johnson had locked the country back down to only leave their home for essential activities, and all indoor gatherings were banned. But sources say that only a week later, Downing Street staff attended a gathering at the Johnson flat.
There was another event a week later at the end of November for a No 10 aide, Cleo Watson, where people gathered and had drinks, and Johnson reportedly even gave a speech.
In early December 2020, the violations for the Tory party piled up. While the second lockdown technically ended Dec. 2, Johnson replaced the restrictions with a tier system, placing London in tier two. Tier two explicitly banned two or more people from different households from meeting indoors. Eight days later, the Department of Education had an office gathering for its staff, which has been confirmed by the department itself.
A few days after that, the Conservative party admitted to having its own “unauthorized gathering” at headquarters in Westminster. The investigation into this is ongoing.
The next day, there was a Christmas quiz for No 10 staff, and Johnson was there with multiple colleagues not from his “household.” On the next day, London moved into the strictest tier of restrictions. A party was held that day at the Department of Transport, which as confirmed it violated the rules. Two days later, a party at Downing Street reportedly occurred.
Will this bring Johnson’s term to an end? It remains to be seen in the UK.
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