Partygate: The scandal that rocked Downing Street

Boris Johnson who led the Conservative Party to a landslide victory just 3 years ago has become Britain's first former Prime Minister to, in legal terms 'deliberately mislead the Parliament'. Had he not resigned as a member of parliament, Johnson would have been suspended from his position for a period of 90 days. 

What is Johnson being accused of? 

In a report released by the Privileges committee (comprising of members from both the Conservative and Labour parties), Johnson has been accused of lying to/misleading the British parliament about his repeated violations of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions imposed in Britain between 2020 and 2021. Additionally, upon the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the nation entered a period of national mourning in respect for the passing of the sovereign's consort. Photographs of a masked Queen and a nation in mourning over the passing of a jovial Prince Philip coupled with the suffering of COVID-19 restrictions were released to the public the next day. But on that Friday night the 16th of April 2021, Downing Street in complete lieu of social distancing laws and national mourning, threw a staff party that lasted until the early hours of the morning. 

Apart from the blatant disrespect for the ageing monarch and disregard for the rule of law, what Britain and its government could not come to terms with is Johnson's denial of his knowledge of the parties and multiple social gatherings between the lockdown period of 2020-2021. It was a jaggered pill that Britain was refusing to swallow unless there was some justice met. The scandal was slowly unravelled by the press who began to unearth evidence of these parties in the form of videos, invitations and staff jabber.

In an attempt to cover up the crime, Johnson had begun to make excuses arguing that the parties were essential for staff morale and that none of the social distancing laws had been breached. The news of socializing at Downing Street was either denied or apologised for by Boris Johnson who members of his own party now had begun to call irresponsible and unsuitable for a role in government.

News of the social gatherings and parties (a total of 6) during the pandemic was however insufficient to bring down a premiership To Britons, it was the lies and thus the collapse of integrity of the office. The fundamentals of conduct, behaviour and the truth had been violated. As the saying goes, 'it's not the crime, it's the cover-up'. To the British people, it was so much more that a breach of law by their Prime Minister, it was a breach of their trust in the office. 

The report released by the Privileges committee cited; “We came to the view that some of Mr Johnson’s denials and explanations were so disingenuous that they were by their very nature deliberate attempts to mislead the Committee and the House, while others demonstrated deliberation because of the frequency with which he closed his mind to the truth. We conclude that Mr Johnson’s conduct was deliberate and that he has committed a serious contempt of the House." 

As a proponent of the regulations imposed in Britain during the pandemic it is unthinkable that Johnson genuinely believed he was not breaking any of the rules as he consistently argued. The insensitivity of what the Johnson administration did during those pandemic years (the first party was hosted in May 2020, subsequent to Britain's first wave of Coronavirus that saw 187 death in a day) earned it the title 'Partygate'- a term directly linked to American President Richard Nixon's scandal of lies, fraud and corruption called 'Watergate'. 

Despite his expression of remorse for the mistakes committed, Boris Johnson has been unable to salvage the restoration of his former glory as the hero of Brexit. Unlike his predecessor Theresa May Johnson prided himself on acheiving and sealing the Brexit deal that was to 'level up' the United Kingdom. That glory is now tarnished and his majority support in the Conservative party torn up, the British government now imagines moving forward without him.