According to the British channel, the British Prime Minister's wife, Carrie Simmonds, helped organise a surprise party for her husband shortly after 2pm on 19 June 2020.
It is believed that up to 30 people attended the party in the Cabinet Room in Downing Street shortly after the Prime Minister returned to London from a work visit to a school in Hertfordshire.
Among those present, in addition to Downing Street officials, was reportedly interior designer and friend of the Prime Minister and Prime Minister, Lulu Little, a non-employee of the Prime Minister's office. Ms Little was at the time working on the controversial refurbishment of the prime minister's apartment.
Ms Simmonds and Ms Little brought a birthday cake and along with the assembled staff sang happy birthday to Boris Johnson, the ITV report said. The attendees reportedly stayed in the venue for about 20-30 minutes and ate supermarket picnic food.
ITV News also reported that there was a second illegal gathering of the couple's relatives on the same night at the prime minister's flat.
At the time in England, social gatherings in enclosed spaces were banned in England, and among other measures, choir rehearsals were banned due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus through song. Groups of only six people were allowed to meet in an open space.
A Downing Street spokesman admitted there was the first gathering with members of the Prime Minister's Office staff "after a working meeting" to wish Boris Johnson well. The Prime Minister himself attended "for less than ten minutes", the spokesman said.
As for the evening gathering, Downing Street denied it, saying that following the rules of the season the Prime Minister received a small number of relatives in an open area of the residence.
A week earlier, Boris Johnson had stressed at a press conference that it remained illegal to hold gatherings in other people's homes.
The new revelation comes days before the expected release of the findings of the investigation by senior government official Sue Gray into multiple parties on Downing Street amid bans.
On Monday, Boris Johnson's former senior adviser Dominic Cummings, who has made some of the disclosures, disclosed that he had testified at the inquiry. He said his testimony was in writing so that the Prime Minister could not make untrue claims about what his former adviser had said.
The opposition was quick to reiterate calls for the resignation of the Prime Minister, who was, however, immediately defended by Culture Minister Nadine Doris. Doris wrote that it cannot be called a "party" when workers in the same office stop for ten minutes to cut a cake and sing happy birthday to someone's birthday.
Commentators, however, recall that even the Queen had postponed her birthday celebrations a little earlier in the period.
Source: CNA
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