The Metropolitan Police have issued 126 fixed penalty notices in connection with lockdown gatherings in and around Downing Street. The fines were given to 83 individuals, with 28 people receiving between two and five fines. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were among those fined.
The fines relate to a series of events held between May 2020 and April 2021, including a garden party on 20 May 2020, a birthday gathering for the Prime Minister on 19 June 2020, and several leaving parties. The police did not specify which fines corresponded to which event when multiple gatherings occurred on the same date.
Of the 126 fines, 53 were issued to men and 73 to women. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has asked the police to explain their decision-making process for issuing fines, but the Met has declined to comment on individual cases.
Sue Gray’s initial report referenced 16 gatherings in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, but not all were investigated by the police. Four gatherings were deemed not to have reached the threshold for criminal investigation, including a Christmas quiz on 15 December 2020, which was later reviewed but resulted in no fines.
