A long-awaited internal investigation released on May 25 left Johnson with little suspense, directly blaming the Prime Minister’s Office for hosting events on Downing Street that “should not have been allowed.”
The report, compiled by senior official Sue Gray, detailed excessive alcohol consumption and parties until close to dawn at the heart of British politics. Someone was ill with alcohol on June 18, 2020; there was almost a fight at the same event, which Gray described as a “minor altercation.”
The report detailed 16 meetings between May 2020 and April 2021 at the Prime Minister’s office on Downing Street, at his official residence upstairs or at the nearby cabinet office.
The report included nine photographs of the Prime Minister at parties, including one of him raising a glass at a toast.
“The center’s top leadership, both political and official, must take responsibility for this culture,” Gray wrote, adding that some junior staff members “believed that their participation in some of these events it was allowed given the assistance of senior leaders. “