Boris Johnson had a birthday party during lockdown, a new report claims.
There was a get together to mark the Prime Minister's birthday on 19 June 2020, while the country was under strict lockdown restrictions, ITV News has reported.
The news outlet claims the PM’s wife, Carrie Johnson, helped to organise the ‘surprise’ party, which was held in the Cabinet Room.
ITV claims ‘up to 30 people’ attended the bash, which kicked off after Johnson returned from an official visit to a school in Hertfordshire.
According to the report, Johnson was presented a cake by his wife while guests, including Lulu Lytle, the interior designer who was behind the Downing Street refurbishment, sang happy birthday. Picnic food from M&S was also on offer for guests.
ITV’s Paul Brand tweeted to say the party lasted ‘20 to 30 minutes’ but that ‘later that night… family [and] friends also celebrated upstairs in the PM’s flat.
Number 10 has told LADbible: “A group of staff working in No 10 that day gathered briefly in the Cabinet Room after a meeting to wish the Prime Minister a happy birthday. He was there for less than ten minutes.”
But they denied that a second party took place later that day - adding: "This is totally untrue. In line with the rules at the time the Prime Minister hosted a small number of family members outside that evening.”
A little over a week before the alleged party, Johnson had taken part in a press conference in which he urged Brits to ‘continue to show restraint and respect the rules which are designed to keep us all safe’.
He said: “It’s only because of the restraint that everyone, you all have shown so far, that we are able to move gradually out of this lockdown”, he said on 10 June 2020.
He added: "It is emphatically not designed for people who don't qualify to start meeting inside other people's homes - that remains against the law.”
In June 2020, all indoor social gatherings were forbidden - people were also urged not to sing around others in case that also helped spread coronavirus.
These claims come as Number 10 is currently under fire for holding numerous parties while the rest of the UK was in lockdown.
LADbible has approached Lulu Lytle for comment.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Politics, Boris Johnson
Claire Reid