Britain鈥檚 Prime Minister Boris Johnson, wearing a face covering to help mitigate the spread of Covid-19, reacts during a visit to the Rutherford Diagnostic Centre in Taunton, south west England on January 20, 2022. 鈥� Allies of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson closed ranks on Thursday after a day of high drama prompted second thoughts among some Conservatives about dethroning their embattled leader. (Photo by Andrew Matthews / POOL / AFP)
LONDON 鈥� British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was fighting to shore up his premiership on Monday as he faced the publication later this week of an investigation into boozy parties at the heart of the British state during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Johnson, who in 2019 won the biggest Conservative majority in more than 30 years, is now assailed by scandal, facing claims that he and his staff partied during the worst pandemic for a century and a new accusation of racist in his party.
The results of an official investigation by Cabinet Office official Sue Gray into the lockdown parties is due to be published later this week.
Johnson has given a variety of explanations about the parties: first he said no rules had been broken but then he apologized to the British people for the apparent hypocrisy of such gatherings.
Police officers who guard Downing Street have been interviewed by Gray and have given 鈥渆xtremely damning鈥� evidence, The Telegraph newspaper reported, citing an unidentified source.
Johnson has denied a claim that he was told a 鈥渂ring your own booze鈥� lockdown gathering on May 20, 2020, which he says he thought was a work event, was inappropriate.
His former senior adviser Dominic Cummings 鈥� now a harsh critic 鈥� is due to be interviewed on Monday.
Toppling Johnson would leave Britain in limbo for months just as the West deals with the Ukraine crisis and the world鈥檚 fifth largest economy grapples with a once-in-a-generation inflationary wave triggered by the pandemic.
To trigger a leadership challenge, 54 of the 359 Conservative MPs in parliament must write letters of no confidence to the chairman of the party鈥檚 1922 Committee.
Leading rivals within the Conservative Party include Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, 41, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, 46.
Discrimination scandal
Johnson on Monday ordered an inquiry into claims by a lawmaker who said she was fired from a ministerial job in the government partly because her Muslim faith was making colleagues uncomfortable.
Nusrat Ghani, 49, who lost her job as a junior transport minister in February 2020, told the Sunday Times that she had been told by a 鈥渨hip鈥� 鈥� an enforcer of parliamentary discipline 鈥� that her 鈥淢uslimness鈥� had been raised as an issue in her sacking.
鈥淭he Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Office to conduct an inquiry into the allegations made by Nusrat Ghani MP,鈥� Downing Street said. 鈥淎s he said at the time, the prime minister takes these claims very seriously.鈥�
The government鈥檚 chief whip, Mark Spencer, said he was the person at the centre of Ghani鈥檚 allegations. He said they were completely false and defamatory.
鈥淚 have never used those words attributed to me,鈥� he said.
Johnson met Ghani to discuss the 鈥渆xtremely serious鈥� claims in July 2020, a spokesperson from the prime minister鈥檚 office said on Sunday.
Downing Street said that when the allegations were first made, Johnson recommended she make a formal complaint to the Conservative Campaign Headquarters.
鈥淪he did not take up this offer,鈥� Downing Street said.
Ghani鈥檚 allegation came after one of her Conservative colleagues said he would meet police to discuss accusations that government whips had attempted to 鈥渂lackmail鈥� lawmakers suspected of trying to force Johnson from office.
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