Boris Johnson's wine and cheese gathering was not a party, deputy PM says

Boris Johnson's deputy issued the latest of a string of denials on Monday that the prime minister had broken lockdown rules after a photograph appeared of him and more than a dozen others drinking wine in the garden of his Downing Street residence.

The photograph of the gathering, reportedly taken in May last year, follows reports of other apparent social events during times when his government had told Britons they should not mix with others.

Growing public anger at the gatherings has raised doubts about Johnson's authority within his Conservative Party as ministers consider new restrictions to control a surge in COVID-19 cases. The party lost a long-held parliamentary seat in a by-election last week.

The picture, published by the Guardian newspaper late on Sunday, shows Johnson with his partner Carrie, who appears to be holding their newborn son, and two other people at a table on a terrace in the Downing Street garden with cheese and wine.

Nearby is another table of four other people, and a short distance away are a larger group standing on the grass around a table with bottles of wine. At the time, the government had told the public they could only meet one person in an outdoor public place, keeping two metres apart.