Downing Street Parties

4 key takeaways from the ‘partygate’ investigation into Boris Johnson’s Downing Street.

— Sue Gray’s findings present a damning indictment of standards of conduct and the operational culture at the heart of the British government during the lockdown phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Downing Street Parties

Boris Johnson pledges to ‘fix’ Downing Street after partygate – but this is a failure of his leadership.

— The most unacceptable outcome would be if this episode becomes another example of a leader feeling unchallengeable and emboldened as a rule-breaker. A change of leadership is the first and only substantial thing that really matters.

OPINION

Westminster: Where it’s a bigger sin to call out a liar for lying than it is to lie.

— It is clear both that Boris Johnson will not go quietly and it is unlikely that backbench Tories will find enough of a collective spine to unseat him as they are desperate to move on from the Downing Street parties.

Brexit

All too predictable.

— A key rule of politics is that you need to ‘be in the room’ and Brexit Britain isn’t, at least metaphorically and sometimes literally.

Analysis

Boris Johnson polling is now so bad that it makes sense for Conservative MPs to get rid of him.

— If Boris Johnson is not replaced by a new leader, backbench Conservative MPs would be well advised to start brushing up their CVs in preparation for life after Westminster.

Brexit

Partygate, populism and Brexit.

— Partygate doesn’t mean that we’ve seen the end of the populist politics that underpinned and flowed from Brexit, still less of Brexit itself. It may not even mean the end of Johnson, whose fate remains precariously in the balance.

OPINION

Johnson is a symptom of a chronically sick Westminster.

— We were all suffering isolation for the greater good, in order to protect ourselves and our vulnerable friends and relatives, whilst Boris Johnson was himself ignoring the rules that the rest of us had to follow.

Downing Street Parties

Boris Johnson: Sue Gray’s report may prove the final straw for angry Conservative MPs.

— The investigation into Downing Street parties has no power to bring the Prime Minister down. But it may still provide the ammunition that brings Boris Johnson’s government to an end.

Downing Street Parties

A linguist analyses Boris Johnson’s apology.

— The Downing Street party scandals have presented numerous linguistic puzzles to explore. As partygate continues, it will be interesting to see who has the final word, and how.

Brexit

Will Truss press the re-set button?

— As the false claims made about the benefits of Brexit are gradually being found out, Brexit isn’t suffering from a failure to control the narrative. It’s suffering from failure, Professor Chris Grey writes.

History

‘In the name of God, go’: The history of a speech that has brought down parliament and a prime minister.

— First uttered by Oliver Cromwell, the words David Davis used to ask Boris Johnson to step down have a storied past.

UK Politics

How to oust a Tory leader: The rules explained.

— Everything you need to know about Conservative leadership contests.

Downing Street Parties

Nobody told me this was against the rules – Boris Johnson.

— We’ve got a Prime Minister who set the rules on COVID-19, then repeatedly reminded the public what those rules were and why they had to be followed, now telling us that nobody actually told him what the very rules were.

OPINION

Trapped between a rock and a party place.

— At this point in time, it might be easier for Boris Johnson to list the days when there wasn’t a booze-up in Downing Street.

Downing Street Parties

Downing Street party: What the law actually said about work gatherings in May 2020.

— Boris Johnson’s arguments fall down in several key ways. A refresher on what the law and guidelines were at that time.

Downing Street Parties

Is the party over for Boris Johnson? This polling detail suggests it could well be.

— There is a clear route out of the Boris Johnson problem for Tory MPs – namely to remove the prime minister and hope for a recovery in the polls by electing a new leader.