Boris braces for Sue Gray’s Partygate report TODAY

Boris Johnson‘s survival is hanging in the balance after Sue Gray finally delivered her Partygate report today.

The PM has received the verdict from the top civil servant, which is expected to name a slew of senior figures responsible for a lockdown-flouting culture in Whitehall.

More tangible evidence of the abuses, in the form of photographs, could reignite a Tory revolt that appeared to have fizzled out after police did not add to Mr Johnson’s single fixed penalty fine.

But it is understood that Cabinet Secretary Simon Case is not set to be sacked over the scandal, following rumours he could carry the can despite not being given an FPN himself.  

The latest leaked image today shows an unidentified No10 staffer surrounded by bottles of booze and snacks. According to the Mirror, one worker had posted on a WhatsApp group: ‘Time to open the Covid secure bar.’ 

It comes after damning testimony from whistleblowers revealed that staff enjoyed raucous ‘wine time’ bashes, on one occasion allegedly mocking a security guard who warned that their behaviour was unacceptable.   

Mr Johnson will attempt to defuse rising anger with an apology-laden ‘masochism strategy’ today, making a statement to Parliament followed by a press conference and an address to Conservative MPs this evening.

Ministers are then hoping to shift the agenda on as swiftly as possible by announcing a fresh cost-of-living bailout that could be worth £10billion, part-funded by a windfall tax on surging profits at energy firms.

However, a particularly damning verdict from Ms Gray could yet spark MPs sending more no-confidence letters to the chair of the powerful Tory 1922 committee – with 54 required to trigger a full vote on whether to oust Mr Johnson. 

Mr Johnson is also facing an inquiry by the Commons Privileges Committee into whether he misled Parliament by insisting there were no parties in Downing Street.

That included specifically denying anything happened on November 13, 2020, when there is photographic evidence that he gave a speech and made a toast at a leaving do for one of his spin doctors.  

Boris Johnson is bracing for the release of yet more Partygate pictures, this time from Downing Street’s official photographers, as Sue Gray prepares to make the findings of her long-awaited report public today

Deploying a ‘masochism strategy’, the Prime Minister will ‘take responsibility’ for lockdown rule-breaking in Downing Street, which is set to be savaged in the much-anticipated report (Johnson is pictured toasting during a Downing St. party)

The snaps were taken at a gathering in honour of the Downing Street’s then Director of Communications Lee Cain, with eight people pictured standing closely together, as well as the photographer

Ministers are braced for Miss Gray (pictured in Westminster earlier this year) to deliver her report to No. 10 this morning

In a round of interviews this morning, Cabinet minister George Eustice previewed the line that Mr Johnson is likely to take, arguing the PM had not lied to MPs.

‘Ministers and politicians are not supposed to knowingly mislead Parliament,’ the Environment Secretary told Sky News.

‘The Prime Minister himself has also given a very clear account of his own understanding of all of those events that he attended, that he didn’t regard them as parties, that he didn’t regard them as breaking the rules.

‘He has explained that, that was his understanding, and obviously where the police have said there were particular failings on his part, in respect of the birthday party where the cake was brought in, he has acknowledged that and paid that fixed-penalty notice.’

Mr Eustice said: ‘Clearly what happened in No 10 is a culture developed where they were working there, it was their place of work, and there were times when they would have a drink at the end of the day.’

The Environment Secretary told Times Radio: ‘That boundary between what was acceptable and what wasn’t got blurred and that was a mistake and Sue Gray highlighted that in her first interim report and I think she is almost certainly going to say more about that when her final report comes out.

‘The Prime Minister himself has accepted that and recognises there were of course failings and therefore there’s got to be some changes to the way the place is run.’

One government source said: ‘He’s going to take it on the chin. He will apologise, he’ll say ‘We got things wrong’ and he’ll take responsibility.

‘But he’ll also point out that he has already learned many of the lessons – he has made big changes in Downing Street. And he’ll say it has doubled his resolve to deliver for the public.’

Another source predicted that the report would make clear that many others were at fault for the lax culture in No. 10 that allowed a series of rule-breaking events to take place, which have infuriated the public.

‘It happened on his watch, so he has to take responsibility – and he’s happy to say sorry,’ the source said. 

‘But all that’s changed since his last apology is that the police have concluded their investigations without giving him another fine.’

Despite the dismissive words, Ms Gray’s report is expected to deliver a scathing verdict on the culture at the heart of Government during the pandemic.

Her interim report in January criticised ‘failures of leadership and judgment’ in Downing Street and highlighted concerns about a culture of excessive drinking.

The PM has since restructured his No. 10 operation, leading to the departure of a number of senior figures who are expected to face criticism in today’s report.

Downing Street has also imposed an alcohol ban outside of official functions.

Tory whips are on red alert for signs that more backbench MPs may put in letters of no confidence if the PM fails to address Miss Gray’s concerns. 

Tory critics last night hinted they may use Partygate to execute a coup.

Tom Tugendhat, the only senior Tory to confirm he wants to be leader, said he was ‘talking to colleagues’ about the PM’s future. 

Former Tory chief whip Mark Harper plunged the knife in, saying it was ‘not just the events, it’s the fact he’s not been straightforward about it’.

Tory veteran Sir Roger Gale added: ‘He misled us from the despatch box. And, honourably, there is one answer.’

One leading rebel said: ‘A lot of the 2019 intake are getting very unhappy… they are beginning to see that they will not hold their seats if Boris stays. 

‘The question is, have they got the guts to do something about it?’

Today’s report is expected to name about 30 senior figures involved in rule-breaking events, including the Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.

Officials found to have broken the rules could face disciplinary procedures. One insider predicted the report would make grim reading for the Government by setting out details of a string of events where rules were broken.

It was revealed last week that the report will detail how one Cabinet Office leaving do ended up in a boozy fight. 

A source said: ‘A lot of the details of what went on are out there already. But when people see it all put together there will still be an impact.

‘When people read the details of incident after incident it will be hard to escape the conclusion that this was not very clever and should have been stopped.’

The report is also expected to contain photographs of some events, with people’s faces blanked out. 

Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were each fined £50 for their attendance at a so-called ‘birthday party’ in the Cabinet Room where the PM was presented with a cake between meetings at a time when indoor gatherings were banned.

The Metropolitan Police have faced questions this week over the failure to issue Mr Johnson with more fixed penalty notices following the emergence of a photo showing him raising a glass at a lockdown leaving do for outgoing communications chief Lee Cain in November 2020.

Others at the event were fined, but Mr Johnson was not penalised. There was speculation yesterday that he may have escaped because the event took place in the building where he lives. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps insisted the PM did not believe he was at a lockdown-breaking party in the images showing him raising a glass and surrounded by colleagues and wine bottles.

Mr Shapps said he was ‘angry’ to see the photographs but suggested the Prime Minister may not have been fined over the event because he left the leaving do ‘pretty quick’.

Meanwhile, No10 denied swirling claims that Mr Johnson urged Ms Gray to drop plans to publish her report in a private meeting earlier this month. 

The Times reported that the Prime Minister suggested to the senior civil servant that there was no longer any point in releasing her findings as the facts were ‘all out there’.

But Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said yesterday: ‘This was a legitimate meeting about the process [of publication] rather than the contents of report.

‘The Prime Minister did not ask her to drop the report or not proceed with the report. It was the Prime Minister who commissioned the report. He wants the report to be published.’

Downing Street staff have broken cover to claim they only joined in lockdown parties because Mr Johnson ‘was grabbing a glass for himself’.

Three anonymous No 10 insiders described in detail regular rule-breaking events while Covid restrictions were in place.

Days after ordering England’s second national lockdown, images showed the Prime Minister giving a toast for departing communications chief Lee Cain on November 13, 2020. One witness told BBC Panorama: ‘There were about 30 people, if not more, in a room. Everyone was stood shoulder to shoulder, some people on each other’s laps.’

‘Unforgivable’ scenes were described at a party on April 16 last year, the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. Attendees told of a ‘lively event… a general party with people dancing around’ that became so loud that security guards told them to go into the No. 10 grounds.

‘Everyone grabbed all the drinks, the food, everything, and went into the garden,’ one source said. ‘We all sat around the tables drinking. People stayed the night there.’ The insiders said the events were weekly, with press office drinks put in the diary as ‘WTF’, standing for ‘Wine-Time Friday’.

One former official described often turning up at No. 10 to find it a ‘mess’: ‘There were bottles, empties, rubbish – in the bin, but overflowing – or indeed sometimes left on the table.’ One said a Downing Street security guard, known as a custodian, was mocked when he tried to break up a party.

‘I remember when a custodian tried to stop it all and he was just shaking his head in this party, being like ‘This shouldn’t be happening,’ they said.

Sources say Friday drinks had long been a tradition. ‘We saw it as our own bubble,’ one said. ‘Everything just continued as normal. Social distancing didn’t happen. We didn’t wear face masks. It wasn’t like the outside world.’

One said they felt they had the PM’s permission because ‘he was there’, adding: ‘He may have just been popping through on the way to his flat because that’s what would happen. You know, he wasn’t there saying this shouldn’t be happening. He wasn’t saying, ‘Can everyone break up and go home? Can everyone socially distance? Can everyone put masks on?’ No, he wasn’t telling anybody that. He was grabbing a glass for himself.’

Whitehall ethics chief (and former pub landlady) who previously ended the careers of ministers

Sue Gray is a former pub landlady turned civil servant who has had Westminster-watchers on the edge of their seats for months. 

But as rumours swirled about what her investigation may or may not contain and what it meant for the future of Boris Johnson and those around him she kept out of the limelight. 

If her final, complete report results in scalps, they will not be the first she has taken. 

In her former job as director-general of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office she had enormous power and long experience in Westminster scandals, and developed a fearsome reputation among ministers and officials. 

Whitehall heavy hitter Sue Gray is carrying out out inquiries into three alleged gatherings at No10 and the Department for Education in November and December last year, when indoor mixing was banned.

It saw her described as the most powerful civil servant you have never heard of. 

Epithets applied to the 64-year-old include ‘all-powerful’, ‘formidable’ and ‘enforcer’. 

Former Cabinet Minister Sir Oliver Letwin once playfully posited: ‘Our great United Kingdom is actually entirely run by a lady called Sue Gray. Nothing moves in Whitehall unless Sue says so.’

Her inquiry into the so-called Plebgate affair in 2012 led to the resignation of minister Andrew Mitchell for verbally abusing police on duty in Downing Street.

And her investigation into Damian Green led to his forced resignation in 2017 after she discovered he had lied about pornography found on his Commons computer.

But her life has not been completely standard mandarin. In the 1980s she was a pub landlady, running the Cove Bar near Newry in Northern Ireland with her husband Bill Conlan, a joiner and country and western singer from Portaferry in County Down.

The couple married in March 1985 at Newtownards register office near Belfast while Sue was taking a career break.

At this time, Newry was a key battleground between the British Army and the IRA. A month before their wedding, nine police officers were killed and 40 people injured in an IRA mortar attack on the RUC base in the town.

Last year she told the BBC: ‘I loved it, loved it at the time, I’d never do it again.’

Her parents were poor but hard-working Irish immigrants to Britain – her father, Leo, a furniture salesman, and her mother, Anastasia, a long-serving barmaid – who settled in Tottenham, North London, in the early 1950s. Sue was born in 1957, followed by her brother Kevin three years later, and went to a Catholic school in North London.

In 1987, the couple returned to London where their two sons, Liam and Ciaran, were born.

Sue resumed her Civil Service career, working across Whitehall in transport, health and work and pensions, before joining the Cabinet Office in the late 1990s.

In January she was drafted in from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities after Cabinet Secretary Simon Case quit his role leading the inquiry.

He was forced to step down after it emerged a December 2020 quiz was held in his own department that he was aware of and spoke at. 

From 2018 to 2021 she served as the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Finance at the Northern Ireland Executive.

She returned to London to head up work on the Union in 2021. But she admitted last year she wuld not have come back to London if she had won the top Civil Service post in Northern Ireland.

She applied to run the service  after the retirement of previous boss David Sterling, but the powersharing executive overlooked her and two other candidates, leaving the post unfilled.

She told the BBC at the time: ‘Why didn’t I get the job? I’m not sure I’ll ever quite know but I suspect, you know, I suspect people may have thought that I perhaps was too much of a challenger, or a disrupter.

‘I am both. Perhaps I would bring about… too much change.’

We thought it was OK because Boris was there too, say No. 10 staffers

Downing Street staff have broken cover to say they only joined in lockdown parties because Boris Johnson ‘was grabbing a glass for himself’.

Three anonymous No 10 insiders described in detail regular rule-breaking events while Covid restrictions were in place.

Their evidence to BBC Panorama last night came ahead of the publication of senior civil servant Sue Gray’s report into Partygate, which is expected today.

Mr Johnson was already under renewed pressure after images obtained by ITV News showed him raising a glass while surrounded by colleagues and bottles of wine.

Days after ordering England’s second national lockdown, images showed the Prime Minister giving a toast for departing communications chief Lee Cain on November 13, 2020. One witness said: ‘There were about 30 people, if not more, in a room. Everyone was stood shoulder to shoulder, some people on each other’s laps.’

‘Unforgivable’ scenes were described at a party on April 16 last year, the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. Attendees told of a ‘lively event… a general party with people dancing around’ that became so loud that security guards told them to go into the No. 10 grounds.

‘Everyone grabbed all the drinks, the food, everything, and went into the garden,’ one source said. ‘We all sat around the tables drinking. People stayed the night there.’ The insiders said the events were weekly, with press office drinks put in the diary as ‘WTF’, standing for ‘Wine-Time Friday’.

One former official described often turning up at No. 10 to find it a ‘mess’: ‘There were bottles, empties, rubbish – in the bin, but overflowing – or indeed sometimes left on the table.’ One said a Downing Street security guard, known as a custodian, was mocked when he tried to break up a party.

‘I remember when a custodian tried to stop it all and he was just shaking his head in this party, being like ‘This shouldn’t be happening,’ they said.

Sources say Friday drinks had long been a tradition. ‘We saw it as our own bubble,’ one said. ‘Everything just continued as normal. Social distancing didn’t happen. We didn’t wear face masks. It wasn’t like the outside world.’

One said they felt they had the PM’s permission because ‘he was there’, adding: ‘He may have just been popping through on the way to his flat because that’s what would happen. You know, he wasn’t there saying this shouldn’t be happening. He wasn’t saying, ‘Can everyone break up and go home? Can everyone socially distance? Can everyone put masks on?’ No, he wasn’t telling anybody that. He was grabbing a glass for himself.’

One staffer described watching Mr Johnson denying wrongdoing in the House of Commons: ‘We just sort of looked at each other in disbelief like – why? Why is he denying this when we’ve been with him this entire time, we knew that the rules had been broken, we knew these parties happened?’

One said younger members of the team ‘did not think they were breaking the rules at the time because the Prime Minister was at [the events], some of the most senior civil servants in the country were at them – and were indeed organising some of them’.