MPs in Nottinghamshire have shared their thoughts on the latest party allegations engulfing Downing Street amid the revelation the Met Police will now investigate the claims.
While Labour MPs have made their position clear, a number of Conservatives in the county have voiced concern as force commissioner Cressida Dick said the Metropolitan Police were looking into "potential breaches of Covid-19" regulations in Downing Street and Whitehall since 2020.
But they have stopped short of complete denunciation of their party and its leader, Boris Johnson, pending the conclusions of any investigations.
It was expected that civil servant Sue Gray's report would be made public before the end of January, however it is now understood this may have been delayed until the Met Police has concluded its own investigation.
Nottinghamshire Live approached all MPs in the city and county for comment.
Ben Bradley, Conservative MP for Mansfield and leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, told Nottinghamshire Live: "I think clearly a lot of mistakes have been made, clearly lots of people in Number 10 have had very poor judgement on some of these issues, but I don't know the extent or the specifics of that until Sue Gray reports.
"I hope that report will allow us to draw a line under it one way or another."
Tom Randall, who represents Gedling for the Conservatives, said: "People are rightly very angry about what has happened. I share that anger. We must all obey the rules, without exception, and be accountable for our behaviour.
"I hope that a full, independent and factual account of these events will be available very shortly.
"There has been much sacrifice by all of us over the last two years as people have tried their best to follow complex, changing rules. We must all obey the law, without exception, and be accountable for our actions."
In a Facebook post, Ashfield's Conservative MP Lee Anderson made his position clear.
He said: "No one should be above the law in this great country of ours and those who make the laws should not break the laws."
However he added that he consideredfpa himself to be a "fair man" and "a firm believer in allowing all the evidence to made public before a full and fair decision can be made".
Downing Street staff and Mr Johnson have been facing a number of allegations in recent weeks.
The most recent event directly involves Mr Johnson, who is reported to have celebrated his 56th birthday on June 19, 2020, with up to 30 people.
Downing Street admitted that staff gathered inside No 10 to celebrate the PM's birthday when the first lockdown was still in place. Downing Street added Mr Johnson had been there for less than 10 minutes.
But ministers have disputed the number of people in attendance, calling for "patience" while Ms Gray's inquiry is carried out.
Another incident was said to have involved a cheese and wine event in the Downing Street garden.
Number 10 staff, including former spokesman and Post reporter, James Slack, were also alleged to have partied on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral.
Downing Street has since apologised to the Palace.
Labour MPs in the city have been vocal on the issue and issued fresh concerns amid the potential delay of Sue Gray's report.
Alex Norris, Nottingham North's Labour MP, described the allegations as "dreadful".
He added: "Yet more evidence that as Nottingham people missed funerals, births, weddings those who set the rules weren’t keeping them. Now the police are investigating."
And Labour's Nadia Whittome, who represents Nottingham East, said: "It’s clear that throughout lockdowns the Prime Minister and his staff felt that the rules they expected others to follow simply did not apply to them.
“I wrote to Cressida Dick in early December last year calling for a criminal investigation into breaches of Covid regulations in Downing Street.
"Serious questions need to be asked about why an investigation is only being opened now. Police officers on duty throughout this period would have seen these events taking place and the PM himself admitted breaching the rules, so evidence was already abundant.
“The fact that the timing of this investigation will mean a significant delay to the publication of Sue Gray’s inquiry is incredibly concerning.”
Tweeting in frustration, after Mr Johnson stated he hadn't realised an event he attended was a party, Lilian Greenwood, who represents Nottingham South for Labour, added: "You couldn't make it up. He didn't know that parties were against the rules. His rules."
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