Boris Johnson ‘could face more bombshells’ as ‘enemies tighten noose’
Boris Johnson could face further damaging revelations even if he manages to restore trust in his leadership amid the fallout from the Downing Street garden party saga.
The prime minister is said to be facing a ‘co-ordinated’ campaign from enemies possessing sensitive material from his office who are slowly tightening the noose with a drip-feed of leaks to the media.
Mr Johnson appeared contrite at Prime Minister’s Questions today with his premiership at its lowest ebb after ITV obtained an email showing 100 Downing Street staff were invited to the party during the 2020 lockdown.
He apologised for what he said he considered to be a ‘work event’, where he should have ‘sent everyone back inside’.
But even if Mr Johnson does manage to shore up his position, he may yet face further revelations from the shadows.
The leak of an email showing staff were invited to the gathering on May 20, 2020 follows a string of disclosures also including allegations that a number of Christmas parties were held in Whitehall and Downing Street the following December.
Other material fed into the public arena includes a picture of Mr Johnson at a Christmas quiz and CCTV footage showing Health Secretary Matt Hancock in a clinch with his aide Gina Coladangelo, which led to their resignations in June this year.
Political commentator Darren Lilleker said: ‘It seems someone has got it in for Boris Johnson and has a lot of evidence.
‘There are likely to be more revelations and it seems he’s slowly being pushed out. Unlike the Matt Hancock affair, this is keeping a drip-feed going. There’s someone out there, either an opponent who wants his job or someone who is upset with him and wants to keep this on the agenda or in the headlines. There’s something for the news each day, starting with the Christmas parties and following up with the more recent evidence.
‘It does seem to be co-ordinated, it’s not just about material coming to light and being dumped in the public sphere.
‘There are enough people who have fallen out with the prime minister and left jobs, so they would be the first culprits, but who knows?’
Mr Lilleker, professor of political communications at Bournemouth University, views the prime minister’s long-term prospects of staying at the helm as fraught with doubt.
‘At Prime Minister’s Questions it seemed Johnson’s tactic is to try and ride it out while asking people to look at what he claims are his successes and consider if the errors made outweigh those,’ he said.
‘Personally, I was very surprised that he made it to prime minister and I doubt he can survive the fallout from these allegations.
‘He’s not a details person and he’s been sacked for lying before.
‘Electorally, he worked for the Conservatives in the 2019 General Election but the pandemic, which most leaders across the world have struggled with, is especially unsuited to a character like Johnson, who does not have an analytical brain.
‘He’s a showman, if I had a car garage he would be out the front talking about brilliant the cars are, but I wouldn’t put him in charge of the accounts.
‘It’s difficult to see how long he can muddle on for.’
The latest furore erupted after the email invited Downing Street staff to ‘bring your booze’ to the drinks in the No10 garden.
Mr Johnson told the Commons he had attended, but only for 25 minutes in order to thank ‘groups of staff’ for their hard work.
The country was two months in to the first national lockdown at the time.
An inquiry into the gathering and reported parties said to have taken place the following Christmas is being conducted by senior civil servant Sue Gray.
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