Sue Gray partygate report ‘so damning Boris Johnson will have to quit’
Sue Gray’s long-awaited report into Downing Street lockdown parties could end Boris Johnson’s time in office.
The investigation is so ‘excoriating’, the prime minister could struggle to hang on to his job, according to a report.
Mr Johnson has already been fined for attending one law-breaking gathering in June 2020 but more could follow after the local elections.
The Gray Report, a civil service inquiry which was shelved when the Metropolitan Police began their own investigation, will be released when the criminal process is over.
With that day now potentially only a few weeks away, Number 10 is nervously waiting to see how directly critical of the PM the detail of the report is.
An anonymous official familiar with the content of Ms Gray’s findings claimed it was so damning it could force Mr Johnson out of office.
They told The Times: ‘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.’
Boris Johnson’s effort to head off any Conservative challenge by apologising for breaching his own rules appears to have only been partly successful.
While there has not been enough dissent among the party to trigger a leadership election yet, there have been telling signs that anger is growing behind the scenes.
Steve Baker, an influential Tory backbencher who was pivotal in unseating Theresa May, turned on Mr Johnson last week.
He retracted his own acceptance of the PM’s apology, saying his contrition had only lasted ‘as long as it took to get out of the headmaster’s office’, and warned him ‘the gig’s up’.
There are a number of black clouds left on Mr Johnson’s horizon arising from the partygate affair.
As well as the Sue Gray report, there is also the possibility of receiving more fines from the Met.
He reportedly attended half of the 12 gatherings being probed by police and Downing Street is braced to receive a fine for the boozy garden party held in the Number 10 garden in May 2020.
Mr Johnson will also be investigated by a Commons standards committee over whether he misled parliament after a botched attempt to kick Labour calls for an inquiry into the long grass.
His fortunes will take a turn for the worse if public anger at partygate contributes to a poor set of local election results on May 5.
A bad performance at the ballot box in local elections is certain to increase the number of Tory MPs formally calling for a change of leadership.
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