Boris Johnson: two new evenings organized during confinement in Downing Street

Staff members working in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office at 10 Downing Street threw a party amid lockdown and on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral, The Telegraph reported on Thursday.

As the country mourned, advisers and officials gathered to celebrate the departure of two members of the Prime Minister's team, Communications Director James Slack and one of Boris Johnson's personal photographers, in two separate evenings.

According to The Telegraph, witnesses would have seen the guests dancing together and consuming a lot of alcohol, so that the gatherings would be prolonged well beyond midnight.

At the same time, the rules enacted in Downing Street specified that indoor gatherings were prohibited.

Only six people were allowed to converge outside.

Boris Johnson has apologized

These scenes of jubilation contrast with the funeral ceremony organized the next day.

The images of Queen Elizabeth II, sitting alone in the front row in the church, due to restrictions linked to Covid-19, then symbolized the rigors of confinement in the United Kingdom.

These new revelations are published at a time when the Prime Minister is fighting to remain at the head of the government.

The 57-year-old Tory leader on Wednesday apologized to parliament for attending a party on May 20, 2020 in the gardens of his official residence, saying he then thought it was a business meeting.

Read also United Kingdom: targeted by serial scandals, can Boris Johnson fall?

The event, for which an invitation had been sent by his secretary to around 100 people with the suggestion that they bring their bottles, took place during a traumatic time for Britons.

In the midst of the first wave of Covid-19, only two people were allowed to meet outside and many Britons were unable to say goodbye to their dying loved ones.

The opposition calls for his resignation

Immediately, the opposition parties, Labor in the lead who accused him of lying, demanded his resignation, while the members of his government in their majority gave him their support, on Twitter or in the media.

"The Prime Minister has done well to apologize and I support his request to be patient" pending the results of the internal investigation by senior civil servant Sue Gray, soberly declared his finance minister Rishi Sunak, perceived as a potential candidate for the post of Prime Minister.

Expected at best next week, the conclusions of this internal investigation now promise to be decisive for the fate of Boris Johnson.

This scandal comes on top of other revelations about parties organized in circles of power during the confinement periods of the past two years, as well as accusations of corruption and favouritism.

Boris Johnson, who triumphantly came to power in July 2019 with the Conservative Party, has since seen his long-lasting popularity plummet in the polls.

One, produced by YouGov for the Times ahead of its apology, gives Labor a wide ten-point lead, the first in nearly a decade.

On Thursday, the head of government escaped the cameras and questions from the media: Covid contact case, he canceled a planned visit to a vaccination center.