Boris Johnson urged to explain why the fine did not breach the ministerial code

Boris Johnson's standards adviser says there is a "legitimate question" over whether the Prime Minister broke the ministerial code after getting fined for Party Gate.

Boris Johnson said he had "no intent to break the regulations."

Lord Geidt said he repeatedly told the Prime Minister's team to be ready to explain if his actions stuck within the rules - even if he thought there was no breach.

But he said the advice had not been "heeded", calling on Mr Johnson to set out his case to the public.

The Prime Minister said being fined by the police does not break the ministerial code.

Writing to Lord Geidt, Mr Johnson said he had "no intent to break the regulations" and that he had been "fully accountable to Parliament and the British people".

The ministerial code outlines the rules government ministers must follow when in office, including the "overarching duty" to follow the law.

If the code is broken, the convention in Westminster is for a minister to resign.

Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said the report was "the latest sign of the rampant sleaze engulfing Downing Street", adding: "This Prime Minister has been found out, and his days are numbered."

Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain said it showed the Prime Minister's ethics adviser "no longer trusts him to tell the truth" and that Mr Johnson was "not fit to hold public office".

The Metropolitan Police investigated lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall after allegations surfaced towards the end of 2021.

A total of 126 fines were handed out to eighty-three people because the force investigated twelve events during the pandemic.

And a more comprehensive report by senior civil servant Sue Gray revealed a drunken party culture within Number 10 while the rest of the country was ordered to stay home.

The Metropolitan Police gave Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak a fixed penalty notice for attending a birthday party thrown in his honour in June 2020.

Following Ms Gray's report last week, the Prime Minister apologised to the Commons, saying he had been "humbled by the whole experience" and had learned lessons.

But pressure has continued to grow, with at least 12 MPs calling on him to resign since the report's publication.

---

Analysis by Political Correspondent David Wallace Lockhart

Despite some critical language in Lord Geidt's report, the Cabinet Office is stressing that he is not resigning.

But a Downing Street source would not deny reports - published in The Times - that Lord Geidt threatened to quit on Tuesday unless Boris Johnson publicly explained his conduct.

The Prime Minister did publish a letter in which he denied breaching the code, insisting there was no intent to break the rules.

He went on to stress that he had apologised.

Lord Geidt also reveals that he repeatedly recommended the Prime Minister - via his officials - to address this issue in the wake of his fine.

He adds he was assured this was conveyed to Boris Johnson. In his reply, Mr Johnson says there may have been "a failure of communication" between their offices.

This latest development raises questions about Boris Johnson's conduct when almost thirty of his MPs publicly called on him to go.

---

In his annual report on ministers' interests, Lord Geidt said questions around Mr Johnson's behaviour had led to an "impression... the Prime Minister may be unwilling to have his conduct judged against" the ministerial code.

The standards adviser said it would be "tough to inspire that trust in the ministerial code if any Prime Minister, whose code it is, declines to refer to it".

He said when it came to the Party Gate fine, "a legitimate question has arisen as to whether those facts alone might have constituted a breach of the overarching duty within the ministerial code of complying with the law".

And even if the Prime Minister thought there was no breach, he should "respond accordingly, setting out his case in public."

Lord Geidt - who reports to the Prime Minister - said he had avoided "offering advice" to Mr Johnson about the Prime Minister's "obligations under his ministerial code" as he would be forced to resign if Mr Johnson rejected the advice.

But after repeatedly contacting his team "to ensure that the Prime Minister should publicly be seen to take responsibility for his conduct under his ministerial code", the Prime Minister had "made not a single public reference" to it.

Lord Geidt published his annual report on Tuesday.

Mr Johnson said he was "unaware of the weight... put on the absence of an explicit reference to the ministerial code".

But in his letter to his adviser, he insisted he had not broken it by being fined.

The Prime Minister wrote: "I have taken full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch and reiterate my apology to the House and the whole country...

"I have also been clear that there was no intent to break the regulations", he added before saying: "Paying a fixed penalty notice is not a criminal conviction."

Mr Johnson also said that, in his view, the same principles applied to the chancellor.