Policy adviser Elena Narozanski becomes the fifth aide of Boris Johnson to resign and leave office as the Downing Street lockdown parties investigation unravels. Previously, four other senior staff members resigned from Johnson’s side, leaving speculators to guess whether the resignations mean the Johnson side is getting weaker.
Communications director; Jack Doyle, principal private secretary; Martin Reynolds, chief of staff; Dan Rosenfield, and finally head of policy; Munira Mirza, have all resigned within 24 hours, following Narozanski, making her the fifth person to leave the UK Prime Minister’s side.
Even though Greg Hands, the energy minister claims that the resignation came after Boris Johnson “made it clear there would be a shake-up” meaning he believes the prime minister himself willed these people to go. Meanwhile, those that left made it clear they wanted to dissociate themselves with Johnson.
Out of the five who left, 3 were directly implicated in the lockdown parties that took place at Downing Street during the peak pandemic. The investigation going around the lockdown parties scandal in which Boris Johnson and allies, current or previous, are implicated have started since the ‘Sue Gray Party Report.’ The report focuses on four key aspects and criticism including; A nation in a pandemic, Failures of leadership, and A drinking culture, within the 16 events that took place at either the Number 10 or the Cabinet Office between May 2020 and April 2021.
Several individuals were interviewed, logs were checked, messages and calls were examined as part of the investigation by civil servant Gray. 8 out of those total events that were deemed inappropriate for multiple reasons are currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
Previous Monday, Boris Johnson said about the reports and its finding, confirming and apologizing that he is, “very, very sorry for misjudgments that may have been made by me or anybody else in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office.” Both political sides have been largely and actively critical of the behavior of the Prime Minister, even those who have been by his side for over decades.
