Another week, another damning party allegation. Boris Johnson reportedly had a birthday party during the first lockdown in 2020, according to ITV News. It is said to have been attended by up to 30 people, including the interior designer Lulu Lytle, on the afternoon of 19 June. While the alleged festivities were taking place, the mood across the country was more muted. Throughout the pandemic, singing near others was cautioned against owing to fears it could aid the spread of the virus. Gatherings were permitted for up to six people outdoors, but they were not permitted indoors. It was not until more than two weeks later, on 4 July, that indoor gatherings between two households were permitted. And while non-essential shops had reopened on 15 June, pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and indoor theatres all remained closed. On the day of the alleged birthday party, Downing Street thanked the public on Twitter for “following the rules and playing their part”, adding: “We must keep going to keep the [Covid alert] level down.”
On 19 June 2020 there were 5,030 people in hospital with Covid, and the then education secretary, Gavin Williamson, said in the daily Downing Street press conference that there had been a total of 42,461 deaths since the start of the pandemic, up 173 from the day before. Williamson, who went on to host a Christmas party for up to two dozen staff at a Department for Education cafe, used the press conference to discuss the government’s efforts to get children back to school, confirming that pupils in England would return to classrooms in September. In March 2020, as the pandemic was starting to take hold in the UK, Johnson had posted a letter from a girl who had postponed her seventh birthday party owing to the virus, saying she had set “a great example” by doing so.
On Monday many people shared their disappointing birthday experiences, including Jo Brannon who said she had had to explain to her six-year-old why “no one was having birthday parties that year”.
ITV said Johnson’s party involved picnic food from M&S and took place in the Cabinet Room at No 10, after the prime minister had returned from an official visit to a school in Hertfordshire. His wife, Carrie Johnson, allegedly organised the party and led staff in a chorus of happy birthday. Downing Street has said the prime minister attended for less than 10 minutes. Johnson had experienced a troubled fortnight marked by U-turns and missteps. On 16 June he had abruptly changed his position on free school meals after a high-profile campaign by the footballer Marcus Rashford. Up to 30 Tory MPs were threatening to vote with Labour on a motion calling for the £15-a-week voucher scheme to be extended over the summer. Then, the day before the birthday, Hancock – who a year later would resign for kissing his closest aide, Gina Coladangelo, in his ministerial office in breach of his own Covid rules – announced he was ditching plans for a standalone NHS test-and-trace app. And while Williamson’s announcement of £1bn to help schoolchildren catch up with lost lessons was welcomed by MPs, it came against the backdrop of mounting frustration that education had not been a higher priority in the crisis.