Downing Street held birthday party for prime minister, say reports
Downing Street staff and the prime minister’s wife reportedly held a party for Boris Johnson’s birthday in 2020, despite lockdown measures banning such activity.
In yet another layer to the party scandal cake, Carrie Johnson led the gathering of up to 30 guests in No 10 on June 19, ITV News first reported.
She is said to have presented the prime minister with a cake, before singing happy birthday, and then enjoying picnic food from M&S.
A No 10 spokesperson, as well as culture secretary Nadine Dorries, confirmed that staff “gathered briefly” in the Downing Street Cabinet Room “to wish the prime minister a happy birthday”.
“He was there for less than 10 minutes,” the spokesperson added.
Family friends were reportedly hosted upstairs in the prime minister’s flat later that evening, which No 10 has flatly denied.
“This is totally untrue. In line with the rules at the time, the prime minster hosted a small number of family members outside that evening,” a Downing Street spokesperson added.
The latest report of the prime minister and his staff breaching emergency Covid-19 legislation has prompted opposition leader Kier Starmer to call for Johnson’s resignation.
Describing Johnson as a “national distraction”, the Labour leader added: “We’ve got a prime minster and a government that spends their whole time mopping up sleaze and deceit, meanwhile millions of people are struggling to pay their bills.”