Will Boris Johnson still be Prime Minister in a year’s time? It’s the question that haunts Johnson’s closest allies. After news broke on Monday evening of another lockdown event in the form of a birthday celebration in Downing Street when social gatherings indoors were banned, Johnson is once again on the backfoot. With MPs frustrated by the damaging drip-drip nature of the leaks, Johnson doesn’t just need to survive Sue Gray’s report into partygate, he also needs to show his party he can change.
When the latest allegations emerged, Johnson loyalists such as Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries were quick out the blocks to say this event simply amounted to cake in the office (even if the Prime Minister’s interior designer Lulu Lytle also managed to drop by) and therefore is less serious than the other allegations. In the wider parliamentary party, however, it has soured the mood further. Those who already want Johnson out take it as further evidence he should go while MPs on the fence are annoyed by the simple fact there is another allegation they have to fend off.
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