Partygate police fines: will anyone resign?

Government sources speaking to Politico’s Alex Wickham said that they expect those fined “not to resign from their jobs”. 

Johnson, and others who have denied wrongdoing, are likely to be dealt with at a later date. But ministers have backed the prime minister, publicly expressing confidence that he will not be issued with a fine. 

Oliver Dowden, the Tory Party co-chair, told LBC last week: “The prime minister is actually absolutely resolutely clear that he is not going to be subject to a fixed-penalty notice because he is confident that he has not broken the law.”

Others have been more reticent to express their full-throated support. Asked on Sky News if Johnson should stand down if he is found to have broken Covid laws, children and families minister Will Quince refused to comment. 

“I understand the huge public interest. I completely understand the considerable upset caused. The events that took place shouldn’t have happened,” he told the broadcaster.  “As an education minister but more importantly, as there is an ongoing live Metropolitan Police investigation, it’s just not appropriate that I comment.”

But if Johnson is issued with a fine, a “slew” of senior Conservative MPs have privately indicated they expect a vote of no confidence to be triggered, reported The Guardian.  Nevertheless, two Conservative MPs, Douglas Ross and Andrew Bridgen, have already withdrawn their letters of no confidence, “citing the inappropriateness of a leadership contest at a time when Russia has invaded Ukraine”, said the paper. 

For the prime minister, the “political reality” of the Met’s announcement today is “pretty uncomfortable whichever way you cut it”, said The Telegraph’s political editor, Ben Riley-Smith.

While Johnson’s position is “much more stable now than it was two months ago” – as world events such as the war in Ukraine are pushed to the top of the news agenda – his party’s “new unity” will be “tested” in the coming weeks, as further fines are issued and more information is revealed about alleged lockdown breaches.

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/uk-news/956249/partygate-police-fines-will-anyone-resign