Do you think previous Prime Ministers would've had No. 10 parties during Covid?

[Bouledeneige]

If they were PM?

I'm thinking:
Theresa May - No
Cameron - Yes or maybe a supper for friends
Brown - No
Blair - Maybe
Major - No
Thatcher - No

What do you think?

I don't see Blair doing it, he desperately cared about public opinion.

Oh aye, right - cared so much he ignored more than a million of us and bombed Iraq to fuck, for which you could argue pretty much the whole world is still paying the price in political instability.

Loved us public, did Blair

Theresa May - No
Cameron - Yes or maybe a supper for friends
Brown - No
Blair - No
Major - Maybe
Thatcher - No

I don't see Blair doing it, he desperately cared about public opinion.
TB cared about TB and TB's international future. TB lost care for and interest in the UK quite soon know his premiership. If you watch the Blair/Brown years, all his advisers said that.

madisonbridges I don't remember either what the rules were then. The Xmas party was pre-planned apparently as they did secret Santa. Apparently its rumoured that there were 30 -40 people there including some journalists. But this is all rumour and gossip. Obviously Laura K and Robert P aren't letting on.

I think a party would have been the least of the issues.

They would all have been handing out contracts to their mates, most of them wouldn’t have been abiding by lockdown rules assuming there actually were any. Bearing in mind we have no idea whether any of the afore-mentioned would even have implemented the same or similar rules.

Personally I'm quite relaxed about a party of people who shared the office during the day, sharing it at night. I guess they'd sort ifvfirmed their in bubble. And honestly, the video was insensitive but it wasn't meant yt be seen and who has been egged on said inappropriate things because they've become giddy.

The things that make me angry are that it feels hypocrital that people were denied seeing loved ones in hospitals while they had a party. And that there seems to be no one in charge of what goes on in Downing Street that has the authority to say no. And why when this was brought to the attention of BJ, didn't he take it more seriously and find out what was going on. Either he was lax or they're all lying to him. Either way, I can't stand that sort of incompetency.

I don't want to say anything about Kinsburg or Peston because we have no evidence and these whisper campaigns become vicious. People add rumour to fact and then it grows like topsy and we can never really know anything.

Major cheated on his wife, so I wouldn't trust him.
Did Thatcher even have any friends?
Cameron, yep.
Blair definitely and would have invited Oasis to play live at it.
The only steady one was Gordon Brown, I think.

@madisonbridges

Did the Boris Johnson actually go the party?

Someone got the 'lines to take' memo

Johnson went to the one where he gave a speech presumably, and one of them was alleged to have taken place in his flat.

Also - the bigger issue is did he know it had happened last week at the point he said it hadn't happened, and why does he need an investigation to tell him what happened in his own office with his most trusted staff

@madisonbridges

BJ went to the November leaving do. Apparently. So before tier 3? I don't know when tier 3 came in. I can't even remember the restrictions now! I thought I'd remember them forever!!

The tier system generally started in mid-October, I’m not sure where London was at first but it’s actually irrelevant to any November party as we were in national lockdown from the 5th until early December, and the reported party is late November.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/timeline-lockdown-web.pdf

Ironically the guy leading the investigation into the christmas parties -simon case was possibly at one of the parties. Downing street are refusing to confirm or deny it.

I think they also would given the chance ,Labour think they have the moral high ground here ,but let's hope nothing comes out about them .

All would*

I'm not sure to be honest
Years ago , pre social media, lots went on and it was harder to track
These days things are much more difficult to cover up.
If this had been Jeremy Corbyn he would be gone by now , that is a given!
Simon Case is on the case , what can go wrong ?? ( get out the whitewash)

No - David Cameron had a child who would have been classed as CEV, he wouldn’t have. Blair neither - Cherie wouldn’t have risked her career (in law).

Theresa may would have banned everything.
She may be saying now that we need to get on with it , but she is more aware of public opinion and how it might have looked last year
Cameron I'm not sure about , maybe a few close friends ?
Gordon Brown would have slung them out on their ears!

Good point on Cameron & his son. Him & Blair are the only PMs or party leaders in the last 30 years I couldn’t confidently said no on but I suspect both would have been more media savvy.

No. It's so far out from what used to be the norm. I don't think any of the the others would in the same circumstances.