The prime minister’s now director of communications addressed staff and handed out awards at a party in Downing Street last Christmas that is currently under investigation, it has been reported.
Jack Doyle, who was then deputy director of communications at No 10, addressed up to 50 people at the gathering on 18 December 2020, ITV News reported.
Doyle spoke to the press office to thank them for their work, as he did every week, and presented some awards to mark the team’s efforts, it has been claimed.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “There is an ongoing review, and we won’t be commenting further while that is the case.”
Political commentators have said Doyle’s presence at the party would be significant because as director of communications he would have been behind the government’s confused messaging since the revelations of the party surfaced in the Daily Mirror.
Ministers have repeatedly told reporters they did not know what happened or if a party took place – but were sure no rules were broken.
Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday that an internal investigation led by the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, would look into reports of a staff gathering held in Downing Street just days before Christmas, when London was under tier 3 Covid restrictions.
The investigation was subsequently widened to include another festive celebration and a reported staff leaving do.
After it emerged that Doyle had reportedly spoken at the event, the Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: “The government’s internal investigation has been exposed as the sham it is. The investigation has only just published its terms of reference, and we are already seeing more details from the media than the Cabinet Office about the parties.”
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that those who had allegedly broken the rules by holding gatherings all had one thing in common – the prime minister.
“In the end, I’m sure Boris Johnson is busy planning who he is going to throw under the bus next. We’ve had the resignation of Allegra Stratton; there are questions now about the prime minister’s communications director,” he said.
Alongside the alleged party on 18 December, Case will include in his review a confirmed gathering at the Department for Education’s Whitehall headquarters on 10 December last year, and a reported leaving event for a No 10 aide – allegedly attended by Johnson – on 27 November.
The terms of reference for the investigation, published on Thursday, said “where there are credible allegations relating to other gatherings, these may be investigated”.
The two alleged events in December coincide with when mixing between households in London was restricted, with England in a month-long lockdown in November.
Case’s inquiry was ordered by the prime minister after a leaked video emerged showing Downing Street aides laughing about a “fictional” party at No 10 in December 2020.
