Boris Johnson could be forced to resign after the Sue Gray report into covid rule breaches in the Government is published.
Senior civil servant Ms Gray is currently putting together a report into alleged lockdown breaches by senior figures in the Government. Ms Gray was forced to delay the publication of her investigation into alleged parties held in Downing Street and Whitehall during England's covid lockdowns due to the Metropolitan Police commencing their own inquiry.
In an interim report published in January the Cabinet Office official said there had been "failures of leadership and judgement" in Downing Street over the Partygate scandal. The Times reported this morning the complete report is even more personally critical of the Prime Minister and could end his premiership.
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A senior official familiar with the contents of the report told the Times the findings are “damning” for Mr Johnson and could spell the end of his time as prime minister. The official said: "Sue's report is excoriating. It will make things incredibly difficult for the Prime Minister. There's an immense amount of pressure on her - her report could be enough to end him."
No 10 declined to comment.
Mr Johnson, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Mr Johnson's wife Carrie have all been fined already for their role in the Partygate scandal. All three attended a spontaneous birthday gathering for the Prime Minister at the Cabinet Office in June 2020.
The Prime Minister said he paid the £50 fixed penalty relating to the gathering in the Cabinet Room and offered a "full apology" but refused to resign. In a recent survey ECHO readers overwhelmingly called for the senior Tories' resignation.
Downing Street is said to be braced for Mr Johnson to receive a second fine after police reportedly began issuing fines relating to a "bring your own bottle" drinks do in the No 10 garden on May 20, 2020. He reportedly attended half of the 12 gatherings being probed by police.
Cabinet ministers on Sunday offered a defence of the Prime Minister, with Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden suggesting it was "quite a speculation" to predict Mr Johnson could be hit with further fines. Mr Dowden told Sky News there was a "very strong case for the Prime Minister remaining in office" despite mounting pressure from his own backbenches for him to quit.
According to the i newspaper, the PM's critics have begun working in a co-ordinated fashion and are "holding back" to wait for the local election results or for further FPNs to arrive in Mr Johnson's inbox.
The paper cited other reports that some rebels have prepared no confidence letters to be submitted all at once to the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs should the party take a battering at the polls on May 5. Mr Dowden has admitted that the council elections will be "challenging".
