Where next for ‘party Marty’?

Westminster is gearing up for ‘Sue Gray week’ as the top civil servant is due to finally release her long-awaited findings into ‘partygate.’ There’s been much speculation as to how bad the forthcoming report will be for Boris Johnson and his gang, with both political appointees and civil servants expected to be implicated. TheTelegraph reports that Downing Street police officers have been interviewed about what they saw on the nights in question while the Sunday Times claims that Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings will be grilled today.

While Mr S awaits the publication of the report’s findings with interest, it’s clear that one or two people’s careers in Whitehall have already been badly hit by the claims which emerged in recent weeks. Chief among them is Martin Reynolds, the PM’s Principal Private Secretary (PPS). He was the hapless mandarin who sent the incriminating 20 May 2020 email to 100 civil servants to ‘Bring your own bottle’ and ‘make the most of the lovely weather’ in the Downing Street garden.