By Ben Kerrigan-
Boris Johnson has humbly apologized after admitting that he attended a Downing Street garden drinks party during the first lockdown, as a leadership challenge looms over the scandal.
Johnson was addressing the Commons during prime minister’s question under pressure from MPs, the when confirmed he had “learned enough to know there were things we simply did not get right”.
The PM’s performance in the Commons closely watched by Conservative MPs, some of whom are understood to have privately called for a leadership challenge to Mr Johnson.
A contest will take place if 54 Conservative MPs send letters to the backbench 1922 committee.
The prime minister admitted he “went into that garden just after 6pm on 20 May 2020 to thank groups of staff” before going back into his office “25 minutes later”.
“I want to apologise,” Mr Johnson said, adding that he “must take responsibility” for events that took place.
“I believed implicitly that this was a work event,” he told the Commons. The PM continued: “With hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside. I should have found some other way to thank them.”
Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, called for Mr Johnson to “do the decent thing and resign”, branding his defense as “so ridiculous that it is actually offensive to the British people”.
Conservative and opposition MPs had been mounting pressure on the PM since the latest revelations were leaked, demanding answers from Boris Johnson over whether he attended a drinks event in the No 10 garden during lockdown.
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said that if the prime minister was there, and he lied about it, his position is “untenable”. Calling Mr Johnson’s actions “a clear breach of the ministerial code”, Sir Keir said the prime minister is a “pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road”.
“The party is over prime minister,” Sir Starmer said: “When the prime minister’s former health secretary broke the rules, he resigned and the prime minister said he was right to do so.
“When the prime minister’s spokesperson laughed about the rules being broken, she resigned and the prime minister accepted that resignation.
“Why does the prime minister still think that the rules don’t apply to him?”
Mr Johnson asked the opposition leader to “wait until the inquiry has concluded”.
Downing Street had previously refused to say if Mr Johnson was present at the event which Sky News understands he and his now wife attended along with around 40 others at a time when such gatherings were banned.
The PM reiterated that it is a matter for Sue Gray, the senior civil servant investigating a series of reported parties in Downing Street and elsewhere in Whitehall over the course of 2020, to determine the exact details of what happened.
“I know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices over the last 18 months. I know the anguish they have been through – unable to mourn their relatives, unable to live their lives as they want or to do the things they love,” Mr Johnson told the Commons.
“I know the rage they feel with me and with the government I lead when they think in Downing Street itself the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules.
“And though I cannot anticipate the conclusions of the current inquiry, I have learned enough to know there were things we simply did not get right and I must take responsibility.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner told Sky News Mr Johnson’s position as PM is “completely untenable” as he “not only broke the rules, but he’s lied to the British public”.
The Liberal Democrats also called for the prime minister to resign, saying he has “become a threat to the health of our nation”.
Another Conservative, Christian Wakeford, who represents the former “red wall” seat Bury South, said the reports of the 20 May Downing Street party are “indefensible” and “embarrassing”.