Bombshell email  invitation PROVES Downing Street held a boozy party during lockdown

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A damning email tonight appeared to confirm Downing Street staff were invited to a boozy garden party at the height of lockdown – as Boris Johnson refused to say whether he attended with his wife.

The invitation from Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary Martin Reynolds invited staff to bring their own drinks to the lavish grounds in the heart of London on May 20, 2020 ‘to make the most of the lovely weather’. 

At the time England was in the middle of the first lockdown, with such gatherings banned, even outside. 

Released by ITV News tonight, it came after the Prime Minister today ducked questions about whether he and Carrie were among the attendees.

His former consigliere Dominic Cummings last week alleged they were both there – as he revealed the existence of the event. 

Grilled on a visit to his constituency today Mr Johnson insisted it was a matter for Sue Gray, the senior official leading an investigation into reports of lockdown-busting parties across Whitehall.

Downing Street later denied claims that Mr Reynolds was facing being removed from his job in the wake of the revelation. 

His email to staff almost two years ago read: ‘Hi all, after what has been an incredibly busy period it would be nice to make the most of the lovely weather and have some socially distanced drinks in the No10 garden this evening.

‘Please join us from 6pm and bring your own booze!’

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: ‘Boris Johnson has consistently shown that he has no regard for the rules he puts in place for the rest of us.  

‘He is trying to get officials to take the fall for his own mistakes, but he sets the tone for the way Downing Street and the rest of government operates.

‘At the time this party took place, key workers on the frontline were working round the clock to keep us all safe, people suffered loneliness and loss in unimaginably tough circumstances and for the majority of the country our freedom was limited to a daily walk.’ 

The Sunday Times yesterday alleging that the Prime Minister and his wife attended an event after Mr Reynolds emailed officials with an invite adding ‘BYOB’, meaning bring your own bottle, or booze. 

But speaking on a visit to his Uxbridge constituency today, Mr Johnson told reporters: ‘All that, as you know, is the subject of a proper investigation by Sue Gray.’

Pressed on whether he had been interviewed by Ms Gray, he said: ‘All that is a subject for investigation by Sue Gray.’

Downing Street denied reports that Mr Reynolds is to be moved to another post following the claims.

Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said he was staying in his current role, saying: ‘The Prime Minister has full confidence in his team. There is no change in that post.’ 

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Prime Minister would have ‘very serious questions to answer’ if Ms Gray found he had attended one of the parties under investigation.  

Asked whether Mr Johnson would have to resign, Sir Keir said: ‘We need to let the inquiry take its course, see what the findings are.

‘The Prime Minister has insisted he broke no rules, so if the finding is that he did then he will obviously have very serious questions to answer.’

Allegations of that gathering, said to have been attended by 40 people, emerged this week when Dominic Cummings said he had warned at the time the ‘socially distanced drinks’ would likely be against the rules and ‘should not happen’.

But the front page report suggesting Mr Johnson himself was present will add to the seriousness of the claims.

The Prime Minister imposed England’s first lockdown to combat Covid-19 in March 2020 and it was not until June 1 that groups of up to six people were allowed to meet outdoors.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said: ‘The culture of total disregard for the rules seems to have been embedding into life in Downing Street from the very start of the pandemic.

‘When much of the country was struggling with empty shelves and a total lockdown with no meeting with others allowed, it seems No 10 were hosting parties from the very start.

‘Boris Johnson and his team are taking the country for fools. We need the report from Sue Gray’s independent investigation as soon as possible and Boris Johnson needs to face the consequences of his actions.’

Ms Gray, a senior Cabinet Office official, also expanded her investigation to the May 15 2020 garden gathering revealed by a leaked photo showing the Prime Minister and staff sitting around cheese and wine.

Mr Cummings, who was present in the picture, insisted in a blog post on Friday that there was nothing ‘illegal or unethical’ about that day, which he insisted was a staff meeting.

But the Vote Leave veteran, who departed as the chief adviser in Downing Street in November 2020, wrote: ‘On Wednesday 20 May, the week after this photo, a senior No 10 official invited people to ‘socially distanced drinks’ in the garden.’

Mr Cummings said he and at least one other special adviser ‘said that this seemed to be against the rules and should not happen’, adding that he issued the warning ‘in writing so Sue Gray can dig up the original email’.

‘We were ignored. I was ill and went home to bed early that afternoon but am told this event definitely happened,’ he continued.

No 10 and a spokeswoman for Mrs Johnson have both been asked to comment on the latest claim.

Top mandarin who runs Boris Johnson’s private office lined up to be ‘fall guy’ for Partygate

By GLEN OWEN for the Mail on Sunday 

A top civil servant who runs Boris Johnson‘s private office is being lined up to become the ‘fall guy’ for the No 10 Partygate row, senior sources have said.

Martin Reynolds, the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary, is expected to be moved after the Cabinet Office concludes its investigation into whether rules were broken at a series of No 10 gatherings during Covid lockdowns. 

One option being explored is to hand Mr Reynolds a senior diplomatic role, possibly at ambassador level.

Mr Reynolds was pictured sitting with the Prime Minister and his then fiancee, Carrie Symonds, at a ‘cheese and wine’ party held in the Downing Street garden on May 15, 2020. 

It has also been reported that he sent an email invitation for a separate garden party five days later.

Dominic Cummings, the former No 10 senior adviser, revealed the party on Friday in a blog, and claimed he warned colleagues at the time that the gathering broke lockdown rules and should not have gone ahead.

He said he wrote the warning in an email that could be discovered by senior civil servant Sue Gray, who is investigating the allegations that parties were held.

On the day of the May 20 garden party, Oliver Dowden, then Culture Secretary, urged the public to meet only one other person outdoors and stick to social-distancing rules.

Ms Gray replaced Cabinet Secretary Simon Case in leading the Whitehall investigation after allegations emerged of staff meeting for drinks in his own office in Whitehall. 

Mr Johnson has always denied knowledge of any rule-breaking. 

A source said: ‘It had already been decided to move Martin, but the plan at the moment is to wait until the Gray report – which is bound to be critical – to help distract from other people who she might criticise.’

The email allegedly sent by Mr Reynolds inviting people to a party on May 20 is believed to have been wiped from No 10’s system. 

One source said it was an invitation to a ‘knees-up’, while another said it described an ‘informal get-together’, with officials encouraged to ‘bring your own booze’.

In his blog, Mr Cummings wrote: ‘On Wednesday 20 May… a senior No 10 official invited people to ‘socially distanced drinks’ in the garden,’ adding that he had emailed ‘that this seemed to be against the rules and should not happen… [it is] in writing so Sue Gray can dig up the original email’.

Mr Cummings left Downing Street in November 2020 after a bitter power struggle with Mr Johnson’s future wife, Carrie.