U.K. PM Boris Johnson apologizes for attending lockdown party

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized on Wednesday for attending a "bring your own booze" gathering at his official residence during the first coronavirus lockdown, as opponents said he had to resign.

Johnson admitted for the first time he had attended the party at Downing Street on May 20, 2020, when social gatherings were limited to a bare minimum, and said he understood the anger that the revelations had caused.

"I know the rage they feel with me over the government I lead when they think that in Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules," an ashen-faced Johnson told Parliament.

Johnson, who won a landslide 2019 election victory on a promise to secure Britain's exit from the European Union, said he regretted his action and had thought the gathering was a work event — drawing jeers from opposition lawmakers.

"I went into that garden just after six on the 20th of May 2020 to thank groups of staff before going back into my office 25 minutes later to continue working," he said. "With hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside."

Opposition Leader Keir Starmer said Johnson must now resign and that the public thought he was a liar.

"The party's over, prime minister," Starmer told him. 

"After months of deceit and deception, the pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road. His defence that he didn't realize he was at a party is so ridiculous that is actually offensive to the British public."

Anger has grown since ITV News reported Johnson and partner Carrie mingled with about 40 staff in the Downing Street garden after his Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds sent an email invitation asking attendees to "bring your own booze."

Numerous people, including some lawmakers, have described how the rules kept them from the bedsides of dying loved ones last May in contrast to the events in Downing Street.

Some of Johnson's own Conservative members of Parliament have said how he responded to the growing furor would determine whether he could remain in office.

"His survival is in the balance at the moment," said one senior Conservative lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

Two snap opinion polls on Tuesday showed well over half of respondents thought Johnson should resign.

But while Parliament resounded with demands for his head, Johnson's biographer Andrew Gimson said he was unlikely to quit unless forced out by his parliamentary colleagues.