Boris Johnson tells ITV News he regrets apologizing for Partygate

By Lewis Denison And Elisa Menendez

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he regretted apologizing for his government's lockdown parties at Downing Street.

In an exclusive interview with ITV News, Mr Johnson also refused to say whether he regretted apologizing to the Queen for parties the day before Prince Philip's funeralwhen presenter Tom Bradby pressed him three times.

In Mr Johnson's first major television interview of his tenure since he was forced to resign as Prime Minister, he discussed his handling of Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the infamous Partygate scandal which contributed to his political downfall.

The former prime minister claims in his recently published memoir, Unleashed, that he made a “mistake” in issuing a “pathetic” and “groveling” apology over Partygate that he said “made it seem like we were much more guilty than we were.”

Questioning Mr Johnson about an extract from the book dealing with his handling of Partygate, Bradby asks: “Basically you're saying it wasn't a big deal. I regret apologizing. Is that really your position ?”

“Did you regret apologizing to the queen?”

Mr Johnson refuses to answer and replies: “I do not discuss my conversations with the Queen.”

“Do you regret apologizing to the queen?”

Pressed further, the former prime minister continued: “What I was trying to say is that I think the blanket apology – the kind of apology I made right from the start – I think the problem , is that afterwards, all the accusations then fell on the civil servants who had worked very hard at number 10 and elsewhere and we thought it was true.

“And by apologizing, I had sort of inadvertently validated the entire body of work and it wasn’t fair to those people.”

Bradby pointed to an email, leaked by ITV Newssent by Martin Reynolds, then private secretary to Mr Johnson, to more than 100 people inviting them for a drink in number 10 garden at the height of lockdown to “make the most of the good weather”.

“The reason the Downing Street garden was used was because it was seen as a much safer environment and we needed to maintain distancing,” he replied.

“It was outside,” Mr. Johnson said. “I really, really don't think these officials thought they wanted to break the rules… They were working around the clock.”

When told he was not at all sorry about Partygate, Mr Johnson said: “I obviously bitterly regret the mistakes I made, but what I was trying to say is that by offering a general apology from the outset, I feel like I'm indicting everyone for every accusation… that was subsequently made.”

Attacking Sue Gray, a senior civil servant tasked with investigating Covid breaches, Mr Johnson added: “And they were actually done by someone who is now, what- what she is? I remember, chief of staff to the leader of the Labor Party.

Mr Johnson also acknowledged the chaos that followed Brexit, for which he notably blamed his predecessors David Cameron and Theresa May in his book.

“It is not normal that the Prime Minister asked for a referendum to suddenly evacuate the scene”

Mr Johnson said he was surprised Mr Cameron resigned when the country voted to leave the EU and criticized him for not having a plan.

The former prime minister said: “What we expected and what I think everyone expected was that the Cameron government, after calling the referendum a 'yes' choice, “no” for the people – a holiday, remains a choice for the people – would present a white paper.

Bradby interjects: “Why? He didn't believe it – what made you think that would be the case?”

“Because all the other European leaders, when their referendum decides, you know, once the people have voted, decide what to do and stay in office,” Mr Johnson responded.

“It is therefore not normal that the Prime Minister has requested a referendum to suddenly evacuate the scene.”

He insisted he was not trying to “form the next government” when he embarked on the Brexit campaign, but “wanted to win a debate”, adding: “And I I believed in freedom and I believed that our country had a great, great future. “.

Mr Johnson also hinted a return to Parliament could be possible when asked if his political career was over.

“I'm very glad you asked that question because I live a life of unimpeachable obscurity…writing books,” he said.

“And my chances of returning to politics, as I think I've said before, are about as good as being reincarnated as an olive, blinded by a champagne cork, locked in a disused refrigerator, or decapitated by a Frisbee.”

He also said he was proud of his record and his landslide election victory, adding: “In 2019 we put together a huge coalition of people and we got 14 million votes, 4 million more than Starmer in 2024, isn’t it?”

“I think you will discover a pretty extraordinary story that we told in three years,” he said of his book.

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Mr. Johnson's interview coincides with the publication of his memoir, Unleashed, a book of more than 700 pages described by his publisher HarperCollins as “frank, unbridled and revealing.”

The 60-year-old ex-Etonian was due to be interviewed by BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg on Thursday before the interview was canceled after she mistakenly sent him her research.

Ms Kuenssberg wrote on the interview takes place.”

She said it was “frustrating… embarrassing and disappointing” not to be able to ask Mr Johnson “many important questions”.

The former MP had a successful political career before stepping down as an MP in June 2023, but presided over several controversies and crises that ultimately ended his political career.

His decision to support Brexit ahead of the 2016 referendum is seen by many as a turning point in the campaign that helped tip the scales towards a Brexit victory.

This made him the natural choice to succeed Theresa May as prime minister when she failed to find consensus on exactly how the United Kingdom should leave the European Union.

And his promise to “get Brexit done” before the 2019 general election may have been the main reason he won a huge 80-seat majority – but the crisis that would ultimately lead to his undoing has arrived in the UK a few months later.

After a slow response to corona virus pandemicthe Prime Minister forced the UK into a strict lockdown where most gatherings were banned.

But he broke his own rules. Mr Johnson, along with his wife and Rishi Sunak, was fined by the Metropolitan Police for breaching Covid regulations by attending a gathering to celebrate his birthday.

Coronavirus rules have also been repeatedly broken by his Downing Street staff, with many illegal gatherings taking place on his watch.

He insisted to Parliament that he was unaware of illegal gatherings taking place in Downing Street – a claim the Privileges Committee ultimately found to be misleading.

ITV News revealed several gatherings, including one where his principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds, invited more than 100 people to have a drink in garden number 10and another discussed by his team in the infamous Allegra Stratton video.

Although public opinion turned against the prime minister over the Partygate scandal, he continued to fight and was buoyed by his support for Ukraine during the Russian invasion in early 2022.

But he was ousted by his ministers in the summer of 2022 following numerous ministerial resignations which made his position untenable.

Rather than blaming the Partygate scandal, many said they decided to resign in protest over his treatment of a minister accused of sexual assault.

He announced his resignation as Prime Minister on 7 July 2022, but planned to remain a backbencher.

Mr Johnson resigned as an MP less than a year later, just days before the House of Commons Privileges Committee found he had deliberately misled MPs and committed repeated contempt of court. Parliament.

The committee said it would have recommended a 90-day suspension if he had remained an MP.

Mr Johnson has always denied misleading Parliament and insisted he was still adhering to pandemic regulations.

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