Partygate: Publish PM's wife's texts over No 10 'event', says Labour

Carrie and Boris Johnson were fined last month for breaking Covid rules

Labour has called for text messages sent by Boris Johnson's wife about a potentially rule-breaking event in the Downing Street flat to be published.

The Sunday Times has reported there is evidence Carrie Johnson organised a gathering for the PM's 56th birthday in their flat, on 19 June 2020.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner demanded an investigation and urged Mr Johnson to "come clean".

A No 10 spokesman failed to deny that a party had taken place.

A spokesperson for Mrs Johnson said senior civil servant Sue Gray had been aware of the text exchanges while carrying out her inquiry into Downing Street parties.

Meanwhile, two more Tory MPs, former attorney general Jeremy Wright and recently elected backbencher Elliot Colburn, have called for Mr Johnson to resign, bringing the total doing so publicly to 26.

They are the the ninth and 10th Conservative MPs to make the demand since Ms Gray published her report last week.

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Mr and Mrs Johnson, as well as Chancellor Rishi Sunak, were fined by police last month for breaking Covid rules when they attended a brief 56th birthday celebration for the prime minister in Downing Street's Cabinet Room on the afternoon of 19 June 2020.

At the weekend, the Sunday Times reported that messages sent by Mrs Johnson suggested another event had taken place in the Downing Street flat that evening.

The newspaper said an aide had messaged Mrs Johnson at 6.15pm to say the prime minister was on his way up to the flat - and that she had replied she was there with an unspecified number of male friends.

The Sunday Times also said Ms Gray had been made aware of the texts but did not investigate the alleged event.

Responding to the claims, the government said the person who had informed Ms Gray about the existence of the messages had not been willing to provide them to her inquiry.

Angela Rayner demanded to know the whereabouts of the PM on 19 June 2020

Asked about the Sunday Times story, a No 10 spokesman said Ms Gray had made clear that she would look at allegations where "credible" claims existed that the rules had been breached.

"Downing Street (staff) were given clear guidance to retain any relevant information and co-operate fully with the investigation," he added.

In a letter, Ms Rayner has urged Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, the UK's most senior civil servant, to publish the relevant messages in his possession.

She also asked him to hand them over to the Privileges Committee, a group of MPs which is carrying out its own inquiry into whether the prime minister deliberately misled Parliament over Downing Street parties.

Ms Rayner said Mr Johnson must "come clean" about what happened.

"It appears that No 10 has now stopped denying that another lockdown-breaking secret gathering took place in the Downing Street flat," she said.

"Less than a week after the release of the Gray report, this raises serious questions about whether Downing Street has been caught lying yet again and why the event has not been investigated."

'Ample opportunity'

But Mrs Johnson's spokesperson told the BBC: "Sue Gray was aware of these [text] exchanges as part of her exhaustive inquiry into alleged breaches.

"Staff were given ample opportunity to present evidence including these messages and all relevant information was passed to the Metropolitan Police for investigation."

The publication of Ms Gray's report - criticising "failures of leadership" in No 10 - has increased the pressure on Mr Johnson.

If 54 Conservative MPs write letters declaring no confidence in Mr Johnson, a vote on whether to replace him as leader can take place.

However, as these can be sent confidentially, it is not known how close the Conservative Party is to reaching this number, beyond the 26 MPs who have publicly revealed doing so.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office has denied claims senior figures in government were able to edit or influence Ms Gray's report before publication.

A spokesperson said it had been "impartially conducted and its contents represent the findings and conclusions of the investigation team alone".