Rishi Sunak has been accused of allowing Boris Johnson to hand out rewards to those involved in the Partygate scandal, including more than 40 honours and peerages for his closest allies at the time. The prime minister faced criticism for approving the list despite police looking at fresh potential evidence of rule-breaking in Downing Street and Chequers during lockdown, as well as an ongoing parliamentary inquiry into whether Johnson misled the Commons.
Hours before Johnson announced he was quitting as an MP accusing the investigation of trying to “drive him out”, his long-awaited honours list was published. Awards went to Johnson’s closest aides from the Covid era including an Order of the Bath for his former principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, who oversaw a garden party during lockdown restrictions in 2020. He also gave a peerage to his chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield, and a CBE to Jack Doyle, his former director of communications, both of whom were in office during some of the Partygate era of controversy within No 10 and the investigations into the scandal.
Labour said the list amounted to “rewards for those who tried to cover up rule-breaking”, while the Lib Dems said it was “gongs for Johnson’s Partygate pals” and described it as “corruption pure and simple”. No 10 insisted that Sunak had only been following “convention” by approving the list but he faced criticism for refusing to block it in its entirety.
The prime minister vetoed the inclusion of four sitting Conservative MPs, Nadine Dorries, Alok Sharma, Nigel Adams, and Alister Jack. However, Dorries resigned anyway on Friday, triggering a difficult byelection for the Conservatives in Mid Bedfordshire. Johnson’s proposal of a knighthood for his father, Stanley, was rejected, and widespread speculation about peerages for donors and other family members was also wide of the mark.
