Boris Johnson's future as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom appears to lie in the hands of one person, who nobody outside the Westminster bubble knows much about.
Sue Gray, a senior civil servant, has finished her investigation into a number of lockdown breaking parties across Whitehall and is due to issue her report soon.
The Gray report will follow the Metropolitan Police inquiry into rule-breaching events in Downing Street and Whitehall during coronavirus restrictions.
A total of 83 people were fined for events spanning eight separate days, including the Prime Minister, wife Carrie Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
They all received one fixed penalty notice for an event for Mr Johnson's 56th birthday in June 2020, when indoor mixing was banned.
Despite not being fined, reports suggest that Cabinet Secretary Simon Case will come in for severe criticism in the Gray report and could face heavy pressure to resign.
Meanwhile, Tory MP Laura Farris suggested she may resign as a ministerial aide at the Foreign Office in order to continue in her role on the Commons Privileges Committee, which is set to investigate whether Johnson intentionally misled Parliament over partygate.
So, who is the person that could end the premiership of Boris Johnson?
Who is Sue Gray?
The civil servants official title is the second permanent secretary at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, however she is also leading a probe into lockdown parties.
Gray, 64, has spent nearly her entire career working in the civil service after joining in the 1970s.
During the 1980s she took a career break to run a pub on the outskirts of Newry, Northern Ireland.
She ran the pub with her country and western singer husband Bill Conlon who is from County Down.
Gray, once described as “deputy God” after the initials of Gus O'Donnell her then civil service boss, has been tasked with rooting out the truth over parties and gatherings across Whitehall during lockdown.
What is she investigating?
- May 15, 2020: Garden party at No10 in which Boris and Carrie Johnson were pictured in the garden with wine, cheese and more than a dozen other people. No10 said this was an outdoor work meeting.
- May 20: Second garden party at No10 with more than 100 staff told to 'BYOB' by top civil servant Martin Reynolds.
- November 27: Sources said up to 40 to 50 people crammed into a room in No10 to see off top aide Cleo Watson.
- December 15: Christmas quiz The Prime Minister was pictured on screen, sitting beneath a portrait of Margaret Thatcher, as he read out questions. He was pictured flanked by two colleagues, one wearing a Santa hat, while the other was draped in tinsel.
When is the report due?
The long-awaited report is set to be published at some point this week.
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