On the same day that Tory MPs gathered for an all-parliamentary team-bonding dinner to boost morale, Scotland Yard announced that 20 fixed penalty notices will be issued in the first batch of fines for Covid-breaches in 10 Downing Street. The timing wasn’t exactly encouraging given the dinner was planned as a way to help mend ties between No. 10 and MPs. The event follows a fractious few months with the Owen Paterson debacle (which saw No. 10’s botched attempt to spare the former Tory MP a suspension over a lobbying breach) and partygate.
Not that the issue of the rule of law came up when around 250 MPs dined at Westminster’s Park Plaza Hotel last night. Instead, Boris Johnson used his address to joke about his fortunes while the after dinner speaker Gyles Brandreth tried to offer advice to MPs on how to avoid his own fate – losing a seat after one term. Despite the day’s news, inside the venue the mood was pretty jovial according to those present.
‘People had bad expectations but it was as good as it could have been in the circumstances,’ says one attendee. Though another Tory MP noted that it wasn’t a particularly glamorous event, with the conference room they were in lacking any decorations.
After two years of lockdown, it was the first time so many Tory MPs had gathered together socially. The majority of the cabinet attended – including Home Secretary Priti Patel despite it being her birthday (she was given a special bottle of champagne to celebrate). The most loyal cabinet member in attendance was Michael Gove – at one point attendees say he stood up to give the Prime Minister a standing ovation – only to find he was alone in doing so.
The Prime Minister played for laughs in his speech – beginning with a jibe at Keir Starmer over his difficulty to answer questions on what makes a woman a woman: ‘Good evening ladies and gentleman, or as Keir Starmer would put it, people who are assigned female or male at birth’.
It received laughs: ‘the anti-woke lines always land well,’ says one attendee. Johnson also surprised some MPs present with how many jokes he made about his own position – suggesting that part of the reason Putin is ‘deluded and isolated’ is that he doesn’t have a 1922 committee and the threat of a no confidence vote. One of the biggest laughs of the night was Johnson’s comment that these no confidence letters are elastic and go ‘both ways’.
Those in attendance left with the impression that Johnson believes more than ever he can ride out partygate. Mark Harper, chair of the Covid Recovery Group, was sat on Johnson’s table which was taken by MPs as a sign the Prime Minister is trying to bring potential troublemakers back into the fold. Members of the red wall intake got into the party spirit, with a handful of the 2019-ers dancing at the end of the night.
In Downing Street, in the face of partygate fines, the plan is to keep calm and carry on. When it comes to the Met Police investigation, those who have received the first batch of fines may not even learn of their fate until the weekend. There is increased confidence that Johnson will survive it. It’s certainly the case that the mood among Tory MPs has calmed for now on the issue: many MPs believe that now is not the time for a leadership contest and Johnson is in a stronger position.
Yet there are still signs of potential trouble ahead. On the way into the venue last night, family members of those who lost their lives to Covid were camped outside the hotel in a silent protest. What’s more, while those in the venue had a good time, plenty of MPs chose to stay away – questioning the optics of anything that looks like a party right now.
Ministers are still concerned that the story could keep going for months – which would be unhelpful in the build up to the local elections. Focus groups by the former No. 10 pollster James Johnson suggest that the perception of the Prime Minister has barely changed since January. May’s elections are now viewed as the clearest judgment on what partygate really means for Johnson.
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