Källor: ”Boris Johnson kommer att tvingas avgå”

Susan Gray (born 1957 or 1958) is a British civil servant who in May 2021 became Second Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office, reporting to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Partygate is a political scandal in the United Kingdom, regarding parties and other gatherings of government and Conservative Party staff held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public health restrictions prohibited most gatherings. While several lockdowns in the country were in place, gatherings took place at 10 Downing Street, its garden and other government buildings. These were first reported on from late November 2021 and attracted media attention, public backlash and political controversy. In late January 2022, twelve gatherings came under investigation by the Metropolitan Police, including at least three attended by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister. More than 50 fixed penalty notices have been issued to individuals who the police believe had committed an offence under COVID-19 regulations, including Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Allegations were first reported on 30 November 2021, by the Daily Mirror, that some 10 Downing Street staff had held gatherings during the 2020 Christmas season. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said rules had been followed, and Downing Street denied that a party took place. A week later, video of a mock press conference held in 10 Downing Street was broadcast by ITV News in which joking comments about a party having taken place were made. Allegra Stratton, then Downing Street press secretary, featured in the video, and resigned her subsequent Government position after the video surfaced. Shaun Bailey resigned from a number of his positions, including chair of the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee, after admitting to a party on 14 December 2020 with Conservative Party staff. In January 2022, reports emerged that there were around 30 in one account, and 40 in another, attendees at a gathering with drinks on 20 May 2020 in the garden of 10 Downing Street during the first national lockdown. Johnson said that he attended and apologised for doing so. Downing Street apologised to Queen Elizabeth II for two further gatherings held on 16 April 2021, the day before Prince Philip's funeral, during a third lockdown across England. Reports followed of a gathering at which Johnson's birthday was celebrated with a cake in June 2020. After the press conference video leaked, on 8 December 2021 Johnson announced a Cabinet Office inquiry would be undertaken by the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, to investigate whether COVID-19 restrictions were broken at that or other staff events. Case stepped back from the inquiry on 17 December, amid reports that his own office had also held a party in December 2020, and responsibility for the inquiry was handed to Sue Gray. In January 2022, the Metropolitan Police opened its own investigation into potential breaches of COVID-19 regulations in government buildings, leading to uncertainty over the timing and possible content of Gray's report. An update on Gray's investigation was published on 31 January 2022, which found some behaviour related to the gatherings "difficult to justify", with some of the gatherings representing a failure of leadership and to uphold standards expected of the government and public. It also said that "excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time". Public disquiet over how government staff and others in Westminster were perceived to have been breaking restrictions led to a decline in public support for Prime Minister Johnson, the government and the Conservatives, and is thought to have contributed to the party's loss of the 2021 North Shropshire by-election. In early 2022, a number of opposition, and a few Conservative, politicians called for Johnson's resignation or a no confidence vote. In February, the scandal led to the resignation of five senior Downing Street staffers, and that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice David Wolfson in April. On 21 April, MPs approved a motion calling for the allegations that Johnson misled MPs to be referred to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee.