Michael Gove apologises for ‘terrible’ Tory staff partying during lockdown

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Michael Gove has apologised for a ‘terrible’ video appearing to show Tory officials drinking and dancing during lockdown.

The explosive video emerged last night of what is understood to be a Christmas party held at Conservative Party headquarters in London on December 14 2020.

In the video, two party-goers twirl in front of a sign saying, ‘Please keep your distance,’ before knocking into a buffet table full of food and drink.

As attendees ask if it’s okay to film the boozy bash, one says: ‘As long as we don’t stream that we’re like, bending the rules.’

On Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Gove said he understands the event was organised by failed Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey.

‘It’s terrible,’ he said on the morning talk show, ‘I think it’s completely out of order.’

Staff at one point joke about whether it’s okay to film the Christmas party, held while the capital was under Tier 2 restrictions (Picture: Daily Mirror)

In the video, published by the Daily Mirror, Tory staffers can be seen socialising at a time when seeing friends and family indoors was banned for countless Brits.

Of Bailey and his campaign staffers, the levelling up secretary said ‘they had obviously behaved in a way which is unacceptable’.

Gove stressed that the party organisers were investigated and disciplined by senior Tory HQ officials.

As part of its sprawling probe into a string of lockdown-breaking parties held across the government, the Metropolitan Police took no action against the party attended by Bailey.

At the time, London’s police force said that despite a widely-published photograph seemingly showing Bailey among a crowd of drink-holding, Christmas jumper-wearing revellers, there was not enough evidence to ‘disprove the version of events provided by attendees’.

Bailey apologised for the social function after the photograph emerged.

Gove said he ‘doesn’t know’ if the video footage was available to Tory bosses or police investigators.

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‘I just want to apologise to everyone really who, looking at that image, will think well these are people who are flouting the rules that were put in place to protect us all,’ he added.

Michael Gove said the gathering was ‘out of order’ (Picture: Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)

As countless departing prime ministers have before him, Boris Johnson nominated a number of candidates for his resignations honours.

These range from knighthood to peerages, in which someone is handed a life-long seat in the unelected House of Lords.

Bailey, who lost against Sadiq Khan, was awarded one of seven peerages by Johnson.

Host Sophie Ridge asked Gove whether those seen partying in the clip should receive honours, such as Ben Mallet, tapped by Johnson for an OBE.

Mallet, seen in the video holding a glass of wine and wearing Christmas braces, was the campaign director for the Conservative’s 2021 London mayoral election.

‘The whole process by which honours are given is one that I think is rightly the subject of debate at the moment,’ Gove said.

He added: ‘But as long as we have the current rules, they go something like this: any retiring prime minister can put forward people for honours.’

The privileges committee recommended Johnson be suspended from Parliament for 90 days for knowingly misleading the House of Commons (Picture: PA)

But another thing MPs will soon be debating is the future of Johnson’s very political career.

After its bombshell report on whether Johnson lied about his lockdown-breaking parties to Parliament dropped this week, the privileges committee recommended Johnson be suspended for 90 days had he not already quit as an MP.

MPs will have a vote on whether to recommend the report’s penalties tomorrow – Gove, however, said he won’t be taking part.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, he said: ‘I don’t agree with the conclusion, however, personally… The decision to impose a 90-day penalty is not merited by the evidence that the committee has put forward.’

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