Boris Johnson told MPs that there was no lockdown party at Downing Street – a claim since discredited by the emergence of new photos showing him drinking at a gathering.
In December 2021 in the House of Commons, Labour MP Catherine West asked the prime minister to say “whether there was a party in Downing Street on 13 November [2020]?”
In the brief exchange, Mr Johnson replied – to the jeers of opposition MPs: “No, but I am sure that whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times.”
Almost 18 months later, his denial has been contradicted by four photos, obtained by ITV News and published today, that show the prime minister raising a toast at a party for his then director of communications Lee Cain on 13 November 2020.
In the pictures, a number of people can be seen standing together around a table of party food and booze, despite – at the time – the rest of the country being banned from socialising during the height of the pandemic.
