Johnson lied to parliament about party, says Cummings

The prime minister’s former adviser says he discussed the garden party with him and told him: ‘You’ve got to get a grip of this madhouse’.

Dominic Cummings says he told the prime minister to ‘get a grip of this madehouse’. Picture: Getty Images

Dominic Cummings has accused Boris Johnson of lying to parliament about a Downing Street garden party during the first lockdown after claiming that he directly warned the prime minister it should not go ahead.

Cummings, formerly the prime minister’s most senior adviser and now one of his most vociferous critics, said that he discussed the drinks party with Johnson and told him: “You’ve got to get a grip of this madhouse.”

He said that Johnson “waved it aside”, adding that he would be prepared to “swear under oath” about the veracity of his account.

Cummings also said that he and another senior official told Martin Reynolds, Johnson’s principal private secretary, who had sent an email inviting staff to the party on May 20, 2020, that the event was in breach of the rules.

He claimed that Reynolds said he would check with the prime minister. Cummings added that he believed a second senior official spoke to the prime minister about the party. “The events of May 20 alone, never mind the string of other events, mean the PM lied to parliament about parties,” he said.

Sources who attended the party say that a table was filled with alcohol and that Johnson’s partner, Carrie Symonds, was drinking gin.

Johnson told the Commons last week that he believed the “socially distanced drinks” were a work event and that he had gone into the garden to thank his staff. He said: “When I went into that garden just after 6pm on May 20, 2020, to thank groups of staff, before going back into my office 25 minutes later to continue working, I believed implicitly that this was a work event. But Mr Speaker, with hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside.”

Sources who attended said that a table was filled with alcohol and that Johnson’s partner, Carrie Symonds, was drinking gin. The prime minister’s official spokesman denied that he had seen the email sent by Reynolds inviting staff to the event.

The garden party is one of a number of Downing Street events being investigated by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant. She is expected to report back at the end of this week at the earliest.

Cummings was Johnson’s most senior adviser before he resigned in November 2020. Picture: AFP

The prime minister’s spokesman issued a blanket denial yesterday (Monday) that Johnson knew the event breached the rules. “I’ve said we made clear over the weekend that it’s untrue to say that the prime minister was told or warned ahead of that,” the spokesman said.

In other developments:

- Two ministers criticised Downing Street as discontent escalated.

- Sir John Curtice, a polling expert, said that Johnson was unlikely to recover fully from the scandal.

- A poll of Conservative Party members by Opinium for Channel 4 News found that 25 per cent believed Johnson should quit, compared with 63 per cent who thought he should stay.

- A former government aide claimed that Downing Street staff would start drinking at lunchtime and wake up in the same clothes after sleeping on sofas.

Writing on his blog, Cummings said that he had raised the garden party during talks with the prime minister about the future of Sir Mark Sedwill, then cabinet secretary, and Reynolds. “Amid discussion over the future of the cabinet secretary and PPS himself, which had been going on for days, I said to the PM something like: ‘Martin’s invited the building to a drinks party, this is what I’m talking about, you’ve got to grip this madhouse.’ The PM waved it aside.” Cummings, who left Downing Street in November 2020, said more revelations were likely. “There are many other photos of parties after I left yet to appear,” he said. “I’ll say more when SG’s [Sue Gray’s] report is published.”

Sonia Khan, a former No 10 official, said there was a long-standing drinking culture in Downing Street. She told the BBC that “drinks could start at lunchtime . . . the idea of mini fridges or having drinks underneath your table wasn’t uncommon”. She added that she had seen instances of “people waking up in the same clothes the next day”.

The Times