UK's Johnson appoints new civil servant to 'partygate' probe

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s first choice to investigate allegations that government officials held Christmas parties last year when COVID-19 rules barred such gatherings has stepped aside

LONDON -- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s first choice to investigate allegations that government officials held Christmas parties last year when COVID-19 rules barred such gatherings has stepped aside after he, too, was caught up in the “partygate” scandal.

Simon Case, the head of the civil service, resigned from leading the investigation after the Guido Fawkes website reported Friday that Case’s department held two parties in December 2020. Johnson tapped Sue Gray, a former senior government ethics adviser, to take over the inquiry.

The moves came after Johnson’s Conservative Party suffered a stunning defeat in a parliamentary by-election that was attributed in part to “partygate," which has dominated British news headlines for two weeks. The idea that politicians and civil servants in London were partying when lockdown rules separated citizens from loved ones angered the public.

Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, said Gray now has the task of restoring public trust. One point in Gray’s favor may be that she was based in Belfast a year ago as the senior civil servant in the Northern Ireland Department of Finance.