Boris Johnson To Be Fined by U.K. Police Over Covid Lockdown Parties

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak will be fined by the police for attending parties during lockdown.

Police have been investigating parties among government staff and lawmakers since January, in a scandal that engulfed Johnson’s leadership and led to calls for him to resign.

The prime minister apologized earlier this year for attending a “bring your own booze” party at the height of the U.K.’s Covid-19 outbreak.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement earlier Tuesday that it would issue more than 50 fines, called fix penalty notices, to staff at Downing Street and Whitehall, the center of British government.

A spokesperson for No. 10 Downing Street, which acts as the prime minister’s personal office and his official residence, said Johnson and finance minister Rishi Sunak would both be issued with fines.

“The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rishi Sunak) have today received notification that the Metropolitan Police intend to issue them with fixed penalty notices. We have no further details, but we will update you again when we do,” the statement said.