Boris Johnson's 'Accidental Partying' In Partygate Photos Gets Torn To Shreds On Twitter

The Met's investigation into the Downing Street rule-breaking has not emerged unscathed either.
Boris Johnson pictured in November 2020 at a Downing Street party
Boris Johnson pictured in November 2020 at a Downing Street party
ITV News

Photos of Boris Johnson making a toast during a lockdown gathering in No.10 were leaked on Monday – sending Twitter into a rage.

The damaging images were obtained by ITV News and were published ahead of the full partygate report from senior civil servant Sue Gray, although this is expected later this week.

The pictures also came just days after the Metropolitan Police confirmed that its investigation into the Downing Street parties had concluded after issuing 126 fines, one of which went to Johnson for attending a party in June 2020.

But, these images appear to show the prime minister breaching the lockdown rules again, on November 13 2020 – meaning it was not the event he received a fine for.

This occasion was meant to honour the departing communications chief Lee Cain, and it took place just days after the government had ordered a second national lockdown in England.

A No.10 spokesperson allegedly told ITV News: “The Cabinet Office and the Met Police have had access to all information relevant to their investigations, including photographs.

“The Met have concluded their investigation and Sue Gray will publish her report in the coming days, at which point the prime minister will address parliament in full.”

From the moment ITV News shared the photos, Twitter users went into a spiral of frustration and disbelief.

Some just couldn’t believe the excuse that the prime minister might have unintentionally joined such a gathering without knowing it was breaking the rules – Johnson used this defence to explain away his presence at his own birthday party in June that same year.

pic.twitter.com/D4gDhL0HFh

— Alexander Brown (@AlexofBrown) May 23, 2022

He was, in a sense, ambushed by six bottles of wine.

— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) May 23, 2022

How much of this accidental partying can one man do? How many times can he walk into a room in the building he runs, and is supposed therefore to know what’s happening in it, and be surprised by a knees up in there and just join in for 10 minutes before rushing back to work?

— David Baddiel (@Baddiel) May 24, 2022

Withnail: ‘We’ve gone to eight parties by mistake!’

— Matthew d'Ancona (@MatthewdAncona) May 24, 2022

A former Labour aide Tom Hamilton also speculated that the prime minister’s defence this time was going to revolve around the way he replied to queries about this gathering last December.

Labour MP Catherine West asked Johnson if he could say whether a party occurred on November 13, 2020 in the Commons. He replied: “No, but I’m sure whatever happened the guidance and the rules were followed at all times.”

Hamilton suggested Johnson would claim his reply of “no” was to the first part of the question, rather than a denial that a party actually happened.

Boris Johnson’s defence against misleading the House here is that the “No” relates to the “Can the PM tell us?” bit of the question rather than to the “Was there a party?” bit of the question. I - genuinely - believe this defence, but I suspect I am in a minority. https://t.co/QES4XL3Pa2

— Tom Hamilton (@thhamilton) May 23, 2022

Others reminded their followers about all the lengths Johnson went to discourage other people from partying throughout the various lockdowns.

Look I don’t like the guy, but this letter telling a 7-year-old girl not to party is objectively getting funnier with every revelation. An absolute masterpiece. https://t.co/VpuHeRdNa4

— James Felton (@JimMFelton) May 23, 2022

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner also retrieved a Covid campaign poster which reminded people not to break lockdown rules.

She tweeted: “What if that one person was the prime minister? What if he made the rules he broke?”

What if that one person was the Prime Minister? What if he made the rules he broke? What if he was responsible for rule-breaking on an industrial scale? What if he lied to the public and Parliament about it? What then? pic.twitter.com/ISAnN1nWL8

— Angela Rayner 🌹 (@AngelaRayner) May 23, 2022

And there were the inevitable questions about what counts for a breach of the lockdown rules in the eyes of the Met.

The police looked at this picture of the Prime Minister with booze in hand at a party during a strict national lockdown and thought it warranted no action

Deeply alarming pic.twitter.com/fdZWogPiEN

— Liam Thorp (@LiamThorpECHO) May 23, 2022

BREAKING: The Metropolitan Police have confirmed Boris Johnson did not receive any additional fines because he followed the one rule that was for him, rather than the other rule that was for everyone else x

— Laura Kuenssberg Translator (@BBCLauraKT) May 23, 2022

Others questioned why the length of time the prime minister was present at this gathering mattered at all when it came to explaining why he was not fined.

Ten minutes is 600 seconds. A fun game you can play is to close your eyes and count to SIX HUNDRED while imagining you’re at a party, while also being the prime minister during a massive pandemic that’s caused you to make parties illegal, and see if any alarm bells start ringing. https://t.co/sGNN1hTyx7

— Tom Peck (@tompeck) May 23, 2022

Some took on the barbs the prime minister normally aims at his critics and sarcastically used it to describe the photo.

Look, anyone who looks at this picture and sees a “party” is just a lonny left wing Wokie that hates Britain. pic.twitter.com/jafhitnuXH

— Jolyon Rubinstein 🇺🇦 (@JolyonRubs) May 24, 2022

And it seems few were impressed with transport secretary Grant Shapps’ attempts to defend Johnson over the photo leak.

According to Grant Shapps if we'd all carried brief cases around we could have gone to as many parties as we liked

— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) May 24, 2022

We have a winner…

The best Tory lie so far

Grant Shapps today on Sky News saying Johnson was “clearly not partying” because he’d “lost his mum”

Which is odd

…given she died 10 months after the party pic.twitter.com/ahg2BbDD9W

— Marina Purkiss (@MarinaPurkiss) May 24, 2022

Then there were some more flippant responses to the quality of the photos released – the other people in the image were blurred, presumably to protect their identity – and Twitter jumped on the opportunity:

The ghosts don’t look into it do they pic.twitter.com/Oi0ChveBuF

— Gwdihŵ 🦉 (@youwouldknow) May 23, 2022

Frodo when he puts the ring on pic.twitter.com/Nmfzfcxpbu

— Michael Fry (@BigDirtyFry) May 23, 2022

Who leaked it tho pic.twitter.com/MWLN5z5uEq

— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) May 23, 2022

Whoever took this must have been absolutely shitfaced. pic.twitter.com/NJSH3joDv0

— Tom Peck (@tompeck) May 23, 2022
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