Boris Johnson ‘attended prosecco-fuelled Downing Street party’ for senior aide, new report claims

Boris Johnson attended a leaving party in Number 10 when the country was in the midst of the strict post-Christmas 2021 lockdown, according to reports.

The prime minister was present at the ‘prosecco-fuelled’ bash on January 14 last year, which is one of the parties now under police investigation, sources said. 

He also personally attended the notorious Downing Street flat party held on November 13, 2020, to celebrate the departure of Dominic Cummings, it has been claimed.

Sue Gray’s initial report into the Partygate scandal revealed a number of Downing Street events that were not previously known to the public.

This included the January 2021 leaving do held for ‘the departure of two No 10 private secretaries’, but the redacted report revealed no further information.

Sources have now told The Guardian the party was held for a senior policy advisor who left Downing Street to becoming a senior civil servant in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Johnson gave a speech in which he thanked the official for their work and stayed at the party for around five minutes, the sources said.

Meanwhile it was also revealed tonight the PM was in his flat on the night of the Dominic Cummings departure party.

Johnson was seen heading upstairs towards the gathering, which is also under police investigation, during which Abba songs were heard blasted from the flat, including The Winner Takes It All.

He had previously denied a party ever took place on November 13.

But on Tuesday, he refused to comment on if he was in the flat that night, which his wife Carrie reportedly attended.

Asked by Sky News about the new revelations, Downing Street refused to comment.

On a day of further Partygate turmoil, Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings also claimed photos exist of the PM at the parties under investigation. 

Speaking to followers in an online Q and A on the Substack website Cummings said that an alleged event in the couple’s No11 flat on November 13, 2020 – where Carrie and friends celebrated his sacking – could be heard from offices below. 

Scotland Yard last night revealed it has received 300 photos as part of its probe into 12 events in Downing Street in 2020 and 20201. 

In response to questions about the report tonight, Cummings wrote: ‘Yes there are photos of the PM at parties under investigation. I’ve spoken to people who say they’ve seen photos of parties in the flat.

‘I’ve talked to people who were in No10 on 13/11 who could hear the party in No10 after I’d left – the press office is below the flat. If cops talk to people there that night, there’ll be witnesses who say ”we could all hear a party with Abba playing”.’

He accused the PM of ‘lying’ and added: ‘This could blow up terminally for him if lies to the cops but he wont be able to help himself other than say ”I don’t remember’ which is his default when he senses danger.’ 

He also used the lengthy ‘ask me anything’ (AMA) session to accuse the PM of habitually lying to Mrs Johnson and blaming it on him.

He also threatened to speak out during any leadership election, should Mr Johnson quit or be forced from office.  

It came as Downing Street tonight caved into pressure by confirming Mr Johnson would publicly admit to receiving a police fined over Partygate if he receives one – as another MP declared sending a no-confidence letter  

Mr Cummings said there was ‘no excuse for self-delusions’ about Boris Johnson.

The former chief aide said ‘at this point the blame lies mostly with the Tory MPs’.

He said: ‘He’s obviously totally unfit for the job and every day he’s left their moral authority drops another notch.’

But he added: ‘There’s lots of blame to go around beyond them, including people in no10 who have also shown a distinct lack of moral courage…’

On Sue Gray limited report, he said: ‘So far as I know she’s done a professional job in appalling circumstances.’

Addressing his feud with Mrs Johnson he went on to accuse the PM of lying to her and laying the blame with his aide. 

‘It’s important to realise that he lied to her about a lot of things and blamed me/us to her for things,’ he wrote.

‘A small example. I was told one day ”Carrie’s enraged you’ve blocked her from doing an interview”. Eh, what interview, I haven’t heard about any interview, I haven’t blocked anything. Mmm. 

‘I speak to Boris alone. What’s this about some interview Carrie wants to do? Immediately the guilty face and smile. Ahhh oh yeah errr what about it? (He’s not sure what I know.) Have you told Carrie I’ve blocked her from doing it? (Ruffles hair) Errr oh well I met have said something that gave her that impression, errr, sorry matey, arghhh it’s such a nightmare up there… Why do you do these stupid things, now she’s ranting to people about me again and it’s nothing to do with me, don’t you see how destructive all this is you idiot? Yeah yeah really sorry I’ll tell her… But obviously he didn’t.

‘This sort of thing is constant. So while it’s true that I think Carrie has been a dreadful influence, and it was incredibly foolish of her to start a briefing war with me and others, it’s also only fair to point out that he lies to her all the time about stuff and she’s often operating on duff information herself. This is obviously an incredibly toxic combination.’

No10 backed down in the face of fury from Tories and the Opposition at the prospect of the PM never revealing whether he had broken the law. 

The row came as Scotland Yard made clear that it will follow police guidelines that people who receive fixed penalty notices are not routinely identified – suggesting that government officials would not be identified.