Boris Johnson apologizes, admits breaking lockdown by going to a drinks party at Downing Street

Boris Johnson apologized for joining the garden party for the first time in May 2020.

The prime minister told a packed Commons chamber that he must take responsibility for having attended the event, where more than 100 staffers were invited and told to bring their own booze.

He claimed that the garden at the Prime Minister's Office had been in constant use during the Pandemic.

He apologized to the MPs. Millions of people across the country have made sacrifice. I know the anguish they have been through, unable to mourn their loved ones.

"I know the rage they feel with me, when they think the rules are not being followed by the people who make the rules."

When I went into the garden just after 6pm on May 20, 2020, to thank the staff, I believed it was a work event.

I should have sent everyone back inside and found another way to thank them, even if it was technically within the guidance, because millions of people would not have seen it that way.

Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, hit back at his response, saying it was offensive to the British public.

Will the British public kick the prime minister out or will he do the decent thing and resign?

The Commons was packed with people waiting to hear what the prime minister had to say.

One backbencher said he was going to hear from his leader for the first time in a while, while another said he was going to popcorn.

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tories leader, went public with his criticism of Johnson over the latest allegations. It was the end of the game for the prime minister.

One told Insider that it's very much when rather than if, and how long he can limp on for. When asked what he wanted to hear from the prime minister, the same MP replied "bye!"

If his response didn't result in more letters of no confidence being sent to Sir Graham Brady, a former minister said she would be "astonished".

Sir Graham keeps the tally under lock and key until the threshold is reached that would prompt a leadership contest. 54 letters would have to be sent in under Johnson's current majority.
The prime minister's half-arsed apology could speed up the process.

The poll found that two-thirds of respondents think Johnson should resign.

Savanta ComRes is on January 11, 2022.