Christmas Party Video Leak Piles Pressure On Johnson

Department for Education says it also held a party last year

- Jon Stone

Senior Downing Street staff recorded themselves joking about holding a banned Christmas party in No 10, leaked footage shows. In the video from last December obtained by ITV News, Boris Johnson’s then spokesperson Allegra Stratton joked that the party was “was not socially distanced” and suggested passing it off as “a business meeting”.

The footage was recorded as a rehearsal for planned televised press briefings, with mock questions posted by the prime minister’s special adviser Ed Oldfield and other staff.

Mr Oldfield can be heard to mockingly ask Ms Stratton: “I’ve just seen reports on Twitter that there was a Downing Street party on Friday night. Do you recognise those reports?”

The spokesperson says: “I went home,” before laughing.

The video, dating from 22 December, was recorded just four days after the Christmas party took place – on Friday 18 December.

At a key moment in the video another staff member in the room says: “It wasn’t a party, it was cheese and wine.” Another, apparently seriously, chimes in: “Just to be clear, it’s not a party.”

At this point Ms Stratton quietly mouths “this is recorded” to the other No 10 staff, and switches to referring to the party as “fictional”.

The video has emerged after a week of growing anger about the reported Downing Street bash, which is said to have taken place despite lockdown rules.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was “shameful” for the government to “lie and laugh about those lies”. He added: “The prime minister now needs to come clean, and apologise. It cannot be one rule for the Conservatives and another for everyone else.”