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Revealed: partygate probe cost £460,000

Hollie Adams/Getty Images

At long last the Metropolitan Police has concluded its four month long investigation into the Downing Street lockdown-breaking parties. A team of 12 detectives working on Operation Hillman sorted through 345 documents including emails, door logs, diary entries and witness statements, 510 photographs and CCTV images and 204 questionnaires. And the results of this are now clear to see, with 126 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) being issued for eight events – nearly 1 per cent of the total Covid FPNs handed out by the Met during the pandemic.

The eight events were 20 May 2020 (the BYOB garden party), 18 June 2020 (Cabinet office leaving party), 19 June 2020 (cakegate), 13 November 2020 (ABBA flat party), 17 December 2020 (Christmas quiz), 18 December 2020 (Downing Street party), 14 January 2021 (No. 10 leaving party), and 16 April 2021 (James Slack’s leaving do). Some people received more than one penalty, with 53 men and 73 women in total being hit with at least one fine. Downing

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Steerpike
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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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