Five Key Takeaways From Sue Gray Report on Partygate

Ben Sills
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- The long-awaited report into boozy parties held at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street residence was finally released on Wednesday.

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Here are the top takeaways.

1 - There’s no smoking gun.

Gray’s criticism essentially went no further than she had in her interim report back in January. There were failures of leadership and judgement at No. 10.

“The senior leadership at the center, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture,” she said. That’s unlikely to stir fears and outrage on the Tory benches.

2 – Gray left “the Abba party” alone

On the night that Dominic Cummings, a former adviser who regularly fought with Johnson’s wife, quit the administration, a group of advisers gathered in the prime minister’s flat for food and booze. According to press reports, they played Abba songs like `The Winner Takes It All’ because Carrie Johnson had seen off a rival.

Gray decided not to look deeply at the event once the police probe had finished. “It was not appropriate or proportionate to do so,” she said.

3 – It’s still a grim picture of a decadent culture at Johnson’s No. 10

The report describes one staff member who vomited after drinking too much at one party. Two others who got into a fight. It details No. 10 staffers being abusive to cleaning staff and boasting that “we seem too have got away with” the drinks parties.

4 - They knew it was wrong

Johnson’s former director of communications Lee Cain told senior aide Martin Reynolds that it was a bad idea to organize leaving drinks for a colleague in the middle of the lockdown.

“I’m not sure it works at all to be honest,” he said in WhatsApp message when Reynolds pressed him. “I don’t see how we can have some kind of party.”

5 – Maybe it’s the economy after all

Johnson looked confident brushing away Partygate criticism at Prime Minister’s Questions at noon. He looked a lot less comfortable when he was pressed on what he will do about the surging food and energy prices that are pushing millions closer to poverty.

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