Boris Johnson is running out of road

There has been no good news for Boris Johnson today. After an email leaked on Monday evening showing that the Prime Minister’s Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds invited over 100 staff to a drinks party in the No. 10 garden in May 2020, the Prime Minister has come under fire from his own side. Downing Street has refused to deny reports that both Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie were present at the event. Instead, all No. 10 will say is that Sue Gray’s inquiry into alleged Covid rule breaking at various Downing Street parties is ongoing. 

The atmosphere in the Commons has been notably muted. The Tory benches were rather quiet when Michael Ellis — Paymaster General — was sent to field an Urgent Question on the issue. A handful of MPs spoke in Johnson’s favour — but it’s not clear they helped him out much. The kindest defence was that MPs ought to wait until the official inquiry was completed before passing judgment.