Politics

‘Significant’ Met information leaves Johnson premiership hanging by a thread

New information handed to Sue Gray by the Metropolitan Police has put Boris Johnson’s tenure as prime minister on a knife-edge, according to one source.

Johnson is facing a make-or-break week for his premiership with his future in No 10 hanging in the balance.

The PM is braced for the delivery of the Sue Gray report into Downing Street drinking parties during lockdown which could determine his fate.

Many Tory MPs have said they will wait to see the findings before deciding whether to push for a vote of confidence which could see him forced out.

According to reports in The Telegraph, new information handed to Gray could mark the end for Johnson.

Asked how significant the material they had disclosed was, one source said: “Put it this way, if Boris Johnson i still prime minister by the end of the week, I’d be very surprised.”

Among the events Ms Gray has been investigating is a “bring your own bottle” do in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 during the first lockdown.

Mr Johnson has admitted he was there but said he thought it was a “work event” – an explanation that was met with widespread derision.

She has also been looking at two staff leaving dos on April 16 last year on the eve of the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, which have already seen No 10 apologise to Buckingham Palace.

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Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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