Boris Johnson and the British Parliament prepared on Wednesday for the imminent publication of a report on the parties celebrated in Downing Street during the lockdowns, whose conclusions could provoke a devastating vote of censure against the controversial prime minister.
“I suspect we won’t have to wait much longer for Sue Gray’s report, which will give us a more complete picture of exactly what happened,” Foreign Minister Liz Truss told the BBC.
In early December, in an attempt to overcome a then incipient scandal over an alleged Christmas party organized by his collaborators a year earlier – when anti-covid regulations prohibited such celebrations – the conservative leader declared himself “furious” and ordered an internal investigation. , with the promise of “consequences” in case of infringement.
But since then, in a series of trickle-down leaks, the press has published information about more than 10 allegedly illegal events, including some that Johnson has had to admit he participated in despite efforts to avoid liability.
The partygate scandal has become a snowball that threatens to drag the prime minister in its wake, especially after London police on Tuesday announced, belatedly, that they were investigating possible wrongdoing.
After the announcement, the country had a confused afternoon, with several contradictory statements.
Downing Street announced the suspension of much of the internal investigation, coordinated by high-ranking civil servant Sue Gray, so as not to interfere with the police investigation.
It was later claimed that the report could be published only partially, and then it was leaked that Johnson was expected to receive it later in the evening in full and react to the document this Wednesday during the weekly question session in the House of Commons.
And, finally, it was announced that Gray has not yet delivered his conclusions, but that they could be revealed by the end of the day, in the next few days or next week, which causes a tense wait for a prime minister who has his stay in office. highly questioned position.
– Motion of censure or new breath? –
“We don’t need Sue Gray’s report to know that Boris Johnson is due to leave,” Angela Rayner, number two in the main opposition Labor Party, wrote in an opinion piece published on Wednesday.
Rayner denounced “a very clear culture of total disregard for norms and decorum in Downing Street” and highlighted that this “comes from the person in charge”.
Johnson, 57, came to power triumphantly in 2019 with a promise to deliver Brexit, an issue that has left his predecessor, Theresa May, at the expense of his own. won the most important Conservative majority since the 1980s.
But now it is precisely the young deputies of his party elected in constituencies that traditionally voted for the left who rebel most strongly against their leader, from whom they want to wrest control of the party and, therefore, of the government, with an internal motion of censure.
For this, they need to send at least 54 letters, 15% of the 360 deputies of the governmental majority, to the so-called 1922 Committee, responsible for managing the parliamentary bench.
The number remains confidential until the required mark is reached.
And while the rebellion was cooled last week by fears of losing power to Labour, which for the first time in years outsold the Conservatives by a 10-point lead in the polls, the Gray report’s findings could revive the issue.
But it all depends on whether the report will be published in full, on all the alleged illegal parties, or if it is limited to minor facts and leaves the determination of possible crimes to the police.
That could give Johnson precious months of breathing space to await the results, during which he would try to improve his popularity as the health situation progresses, Thursday’s lifting of restrictions and economic stimulus measures.
For the moment, the ongoing police investigation may serve him to avoid the partygate questions during Wednesday’s House of Commons session.
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