• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Sophia Bush’s girlfriend ‘proud’ the actress has opened up about coming out as queer
  • Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!
  • Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

Johnson takes responsibility but won’t quit over lockdown parties

Towleroad May 25, 2022 Leave a Comment

Published by
Reuters

By Elizabeth Piper and Muvija M

LONDON (Reuters) -A “humbled” Boris Johnson said he took full responsibility but would not quit after a damning official report on Wednesday detailed a series of illegal lockdown parties at the British leader's Downing Street office.

Johnson has faced repeated calls to resign from opposition politicians and some in his own party over the alcohol-fuelled gatherings, after it was revealed that he and officials had broken COVID-19 rules that all but banned people from socialising outside their households.

“I … am humbled and I have learned a lesson,” Prime Minister Johnson told parliament, saying he would not quit over the scandal.

His foreign minister Liz Truss, seen as a possible successor, said she backed him “100%” after his apology.

The report by senior official Sue Gray did not specifically blame Johnson, but gave graphic details and included photographs from more than a dozen gatherings.

He attended some, including a party to celebrate his 56th birthday on June 19, 2020 that he was fined over but which Gray said he was unaware of in advance.

“Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen,” the report said. “The senior leadership …must bear responsibility for this culture.”

Johnson, who commissioned the report after revelations of boozy Downing Street events, said he was appalled by some of the behaviour it had uncovered.

Gray's interim findings were published in January, but details were withheld until the end of a police inquiry that concluded last week with 126 fines handed out.

DISMAYING BEHAVIOUR AT ‘HEART OF GOVERNMENT'

Her full report included emails and messages that showed many gatherings were planned in advance, with discussions on who would bring alcohol – drinks that “we we seem to have got away with”, the then head of Johnson's Downing Street office, Martin Reynolds, said in one message. [L5N2XH35B]

There were warnings from another official that people should not be “waving bottles of wine” before a gathering that coincided with a televised news conference when ministers told the public to follow the COVID rules.

At one June 2020 event, Gray said “excessive alcohol consumption” led to one person being sick and a fight between two others. [nL5N2XH35B]

At another, the night before the April 2021 funeral for Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip, individuals partied into the early hours and damaged a swing.

“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of government,” Gray said. “The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.”

She cited multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff who had to remove red wine from walls after one event.

For months, evidence of the parties has dripped out into the media, forcing Johnson to apologise, change his office team and promise a reset to try to restore his authority.

Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said it was time for Johnson to quit, saying the report laid bare that the government believed that it was one rule for them and another for everyone else.

“You cannot be a lawmaker and a law-breaker,” Starmer – himself under police investigation for breaking COVID rules, told parliament. He has said he'll resign if fined.

Johnson's immediate fate lies in the hands of his Conservative lawmakers who can call for a leadership challenge.

Many had said they would wait for Gray's full report before deciding whether to demand Johnson should go.

“Are you willing day in and day out to defend his behaviour publicly?” Tobias Ellwood, a long-time critic of Johnson, implored of his parliamentary colleagues.

Others felt the report was less damning than it could have been. “This is all so banal,” one Conservative said on condition of anonymity.

Johnson had initially denied there had been parties or rule-breaking at Downing Street, and some lawmakers say his position is untenable if he is found to have lied to parliament, a matter under investigation by the Committee of Privileges.

By way of apology for his earlier denials, said he wanted to “correct for the record” that no rules were broken. “Clearly this was not the case for some of those gatherings after I had left,” Johnson told parliament.

Drunkenness, vomiting and a scuffle detailed at UK government lockdown partiesFACTBOX-What are the findings from a report into lockdown parties in Downing Street?

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Mujiva M, William James, Andrew MacAskill and Alistair Smout; writing by Michael Holden; editing by John Stonestreet)

Topics: Aaon, Politics More Posts About: Boris Johnson, Liz Truss

Related Posts
  • Liz Truss’s cabinet is Britain’s first without white man in top jobs
  • Scandal-ridden Boris Johnson to quit as UK prime minister
  • Russian State TV Blames Queen Elizabeth For The ‘Collapse’ Of The British Empire
  • Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

    Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Mel B will “always be open” when it comes to her sexuality. The Spice Girls singer, 48, who reunited with her bandmates including the group's ex-singer Victoria Beckham for the fashion …Read More »
  • Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

    Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Megan Thee Stallion is being sued for allegedly creating a hostile work environment and forcing her cameraman to watch her having lesbian sex. The 29-year-old ‘Savage' rapper faces the salacious claims …Read More »
  • Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

    Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Jonathan Bennett's life was “changed forever” by his role in ‘Mean Girls'. The 42-year-old actor starred as heartthrob Aaron Samuels in the 2004 cult classic – which followed Lindsay Lohan, Rachel …Read More »
  • Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

    Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass a gift basket after he came out as gay. The 44-year-old NSYNC star revealed the legendary singer showed his support when Lance decided to reveal …Read More »
Previous Post: « Shunned! Caitlyn Jenner Denied Invite To Kardashian-Barker Wedding In Italy
Next Post: Nike halts sales to retailers in Russia »

Primary Sidebar

Most Recent

  • Sophia Bush’s girlfriend ‘proud’ the actress has opened up about coming out as queer

    Sophia Bush’s girlfriend ‘proud’ the actress has opened up about coming out as queer

  • Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

    Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

  • Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

    Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

  • Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

    Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

  • Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

    Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

  • Relationship status influences heterosexual women’s sexual prejudice towards lesbians

    Relationship status influences heterosexual women’s sexual prejudice towards lesbians

  • JoJo Siwa had a challenge transitioning to new grown-up image

    JoJo Siwa had a challenge transitioning to new grown-up image

  • Liz Hurley defends lesbian sex scene in new movie that was directed by her son

    Liz Hurley defends lesbian sex scene in new movie that was directed by her son

Partner Links

  • Immorality And More
    Open thread below... read more
  • Randy Rainbow visits with Kelly Clarkson
    “She wanted to raise the gayest kid on Long Island!” Comedian […]
  • Song of the Day: 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' by Saint Etienne
    Today marks exactly 35 years since the release of Saint Etienne's […]
  • Baldwin Isn't Fire, But She'll Keep A Simmering Heat On RFK Jr.
    Earlier this month, Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin confronted RFK, Jr, about […]
  • Remains of the Day (05/28)
    Out: Benito Skinner teases "Overcompensating" season 2 storylinesCBS News: Infant fatally […]

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

About

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy
[towleroadmr] [towleroadtn]

Footer

Ptown Hacks 2018

Read

  • Travel
  • Film
  • Law – LGBT Rights
  • Columns
  • Specials

About

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · Log in

×
×