Met Police to issue first set of fines for multiple lockdown-busting bashes held at Downing Street and Whitehall

• The first set of “partygate” fines will be issued by the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday.
• Around 20 fixed penalty notices are expected to be issued for lockdown-busting parties.
• Downing Street previously said it will confirm if Boris Johnson is fined for attending a party.

The first fines for the lockdown-busting parties held in Whitehall and Downing Street will be issued on Tuesday, the London Metropolitan Police has confirmed. 

Around 20 fixed penalty notices will be issued for COVID-19 breaches following the police investigation into so-called partygate. More are expected to follow Tuesday’s initial flurry.

The police said in a Tuesday morning statement: “The investigation into allegations of breaches of COVID-19 regulations in Whitehall and Downing Street has now progressed to the point where the first referrals for fixed penalty notices (FPN) will be made to ACRO Criminal Records Office.

“We will today initially begin to refer 20 fixed penalty notices to be issued for breaches of Covid-19 regulations. The ACRO Criminal Records Office will then be responsible for issuing the FPNs to the individual following the referrals from the MPS.”

The Met Police spokesman stressed that the team was “making every effort to progress this investigation at speed and have completed a number of assessments”. 

However, he said more work will be undertaken to assess the “significant amount of investigative material that remains”, which could result in further fines being issued. 

The force has issued more than 100 questionnaires about the possible breaches of COVID-19 regulations, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, with the Met formally investigating 12 events, including three that Johnson attended.

According to a leaked copy of the generic questionnaire, which was published by ITV News, recipients were informed at the outset that they have an opportunity to provide “a written statement under caution”. 

The police would not confirm the names or numbers of people receiving fines. However, Johnson is not expected to be among the initial set of fines issued, as the prime minister has denied any wrongdoing. 

Downing Street previously promised to confirm whether the prime minister has received a fine, which could see a return to the leadership challenge that has been driven underground since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.