Partygate? Nothing more than a ‘sophomore slump’

PARTYGATE is nothing more than a ‘sophomore slump’ for Boris Johnson, a senior Downing Street adviser told Tory donors last week.

The American expression, used by Isaac Levido, the No 10 strategist, describes students who are less successful in their second year than their first.

Mr Levido, credited with helping mastermind Mr Johnson’s successful 2019 election campaign, was a protégé of strategist Lynton Crosby and worked in Washington.

Sources on the call to donors said Mr Levido told them: ‘It’s all going to be fine, we have time.’ The Conservative party was in a ‘better position than Labour’, he said.

Tory MP Adam Holloway yesterday defended the British prime minister over lockdown-breaking party allegations. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today: ‘He’s the PM of a nuclear-armed state, operating in a Downing Street that at the time was (on) a war footing with 300-plus passholders virtually working ... 24/7.

‘He’s not the office manager. And if he’s asked to go outside and thank some staff, I’m not sure what the crime is there.’