Shake-up at No 10 as Boris Johnson’s future hangs in balance

Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, London

New communications director, Guto Harri, walking into the Prime Minister’s office carrying a bag of groceries. Another new face: conservative MP Steve Barclay, now Boris Johnson’s chief of staff; part of the British prime minister’s shake-up at No 10.

The new appointments come after five of the PM’s most trusted Downing Street staff quit last week over "partygate" allegations and more changes are promised as he looks to turn the rise tide of letters of no confidence.

Those letters follow allegations of parties held under the Prime Minister’s roof during lockdown, when the rest of the people adhered to the strict social-distancing guidelines.

In total, 16 parties allegedly took place in two years of lockdowns. An inquiry conducted by civil servant Sue Gray, although published in its redacted form, only mentioned four of the parties, all of which point to a violation of the government’s own rules.

The other 12 are under investigation by the metropolitan police, who stepped in at the eleventh hour asking Sue Gray not to release her inquiry in full, buying the Prime Minister more time.

Despite the public outcry and the calls from members of his own party on him to resign, Johnson and those closest to him say the country should move on from the scandal.

But while he and his allies work in overdrive to shore up his future as prime minister, the fallout from the Sue Gray inquiry and ongoing police investigation hangs over the prime minister’s head like a Damocles sword.

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