Boris Johnson’s authority was teetering on the brink of an abyss after he admitted attending a “bring your own booze” gathering in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown – but insisted it “technically” broke no rules. Amid speculation that this scandal could be the one to undo him, Johnson apologised on Wednesday afternoon to the nation at prime minister’s questions. But was it enough to persuade rebellious Tory MPs? Some senior Conservatives have urged Johnson to resign. Among them is the chairman of the public affairs and constitutional affairs Committee and Tory MP for Hazel Grove, William Wragg, who said the prime minister’s position is now “untenable”. He told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme that: “A series of unforced errors are deeply damaging to the perception of the party.”
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross also called for Johnson to stand down after his admission, saying his position was now “untenable”, and nearly two-thirds of Scottish Tory MSPs have publicly called for Johnson to quit. Speaking to reporters, Ross said: “I said, yesterday, if the prime minister attended this gathering, event in Downing Street on 20 May 2020, he could not continue as prime minister so, regretfully, I have to say his position is no longer tenable.” Others have been more forgiving. The deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, said Johnson had given a “very clear account” of the events of 20 May 2020. He told the BBC: “He has been clear that he believed he was acting in accordance with the rules at the time but, of course, understands the perception of those that those in power are not following the rules that many others are required to, particularly those who have been through serious hardship or lost loved ones during this pandemic, and that’s why he’s apologised.” Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, wrote on Twitter that the “PM was right to personally apologise earlier”, with Michael Gove, secretary for levelling up, adding: “Nadine is right.” Christopher Chope, MP for Christchurch, appeared to reverse his earlier position on the debacle, which he had described as “dirty linen”, by praising Johnson’s “most abject and fulsome apology”. Chope told Sky News: I think it was a full apology rather than a partial one. And he took responsibility for what had happened, and I think most right-minded people will say we must accept that apology. Obviously it’s not the end of the matter because, as he pointed out, there is this inquiry going on and there will be a further opportunity for him to be subject to scrutiny when we know the results of that inquiry. In what appeared to be an attempted defence of the PM, Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset, said he did not know if Johnson would survive. He told Sky: As I understand it, and this is a third-hand understanding, this was a party organised to say, in the first instance, ‘welcome back the prime minister’. He had been in hospital, I think I’ve got the timeline right, and recuperating at Chequers. It was also a way of saying thank you to Dominic Raab for holding the fort. So whether the prime minister knew it was taking place or whether everybody just jumped out of the shrubbery and said ‘Surprise’, I don’t know. Sir Roger Gale, MP for North Thanet, who is regarded as a senior backbencher, said it was clear Johnson misled parliament; politically, he was a “dead man walking”. Gale told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: Unfortunately, what the prime minister has said today leaves people like me in an impossible situation. We now know that the prime minister spent 25 minutes at what was quite clearly a party. That means that he misled the house. I fear that it is now going to have to be the work of the 1922 [Committee] to determine precisely how we proceed. If you look at the Twittersphere after prime minister’s question time today, it sounds to me I am afraid very much as though politically the prime minister is a dead man walking.
The York Outer MP Julian Sturdy said Johnson’s claim he thought the gathering at Downing Street was work-related “will not wash with the British public”. In a statement to the Yorkshire Post he said: The fact is, that at a time when people were not allowed to attend the funeral of their loved ones or comfort their dying relatives, when fines were being issued for people meeting for a coffee in the park, Downing Street should not have been holding social events of any sort. Tory MP Neil Hudson said the prime minister’s apology was an “important step forward” but added: I will not defend the indefensible. The Penrith and the Border MP said he would await the result of an investigation by the civil service and potentially the Metropolitan police, saying there should be “serious consequences” if rules were broken. Also condemnatory was Ruth Davidson, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives. On Twitter, she referred to a previous comment criticising the government’s circumlocutions around the lockdown parties scandal, and added: And I’m not convinced today drew a line under anything either. Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former most-senior aide, who has become a staunch critic of his old boss, also used Twitter to give his insider’s perspective. The party took place two days before the Guardian and Daily Mirror Barnard Castle exposé that precipitated Cummings’ own downfall. He wrote: Whole point of why I & other official told MR – WTF YOU DOING HOLDING A PARTY – was cos the invite = obv totally SOCIAL NOT WORK (UNlike all the mtngs in garden). No way ‘technically within rules’. [Shopping trolley] bullshit cos altern is admit he broke rules + resign. Not all Conservative MPs were so loquacious in their responses. One unnamed Tory, asked by a Sky News reporter to describe the revelations of PMQs, replied: Fucked.