WORKING TO RULES
April 30, 2021 Labour leader Keir Starmer spends the evening at a constituency office in Durham during the campaign for the local elections and Hartlepool by-election.
May 1, 2021 A newspaper publishes a picture of the him drinking a beer while working the previous evening. November 30, 2021 The Mirror publishes its first bombshell story that lockdown rules were broken by the Prime Minister and Downing Street aides at three separate social gatherings.
December 1, 2021 Boris Johnson denies any rules were broken, telling Parliament: “All guidance was followed completely in No10.”
January 25, 2022 Then-Met Police Chief Cressida Dick announces the force will investigate “a number of” Downing Street parties. The force later clarifies that it will look into 12 gatherings, six of which Boris Johnson was believed to have attended. February 7, 2022 Durham Police review footage of the Labour event and conclude they will not investigate. “We do not believe an offence has been established in relation to the legislation and guidance in place at the time and will therefore take no further action,” they said.
April 12, 2022 The Prime Minister is fined by the Metropolitan Police for breaking his own Covid-19 laws. Boris Johnson apologises but refuses to step down.
May 6, 2022 Durham Police announce they will reinvestigate the Durham campaigning event in light of “significant new information” that emerges during the local election campaign. May 9, 2022 Labour leader Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner say that they will quit if they are issued with fixed penalty notices for the event.