Most party members believe that a party did happen, and tend to think that it broke rules

The Downing Street Christmas Party scandal dominated the headlines in December, causing havoc for Boris Johnson and his government as story after story about alleged Covid-19 rule-breaking gatherings emerged. Recent revelations of a leaked email about a drinks party in May suggest that the pressure on the prime minister is not likely to let up soon.

At the beginning of December, YouGov polling revealed that the majority of Britons didn’t believe the government’s assurances that no rules were broken. Now a new YouGov / Sky News survey reveals that most Conservative members think that a Christmas party did happen – but they also think it shouldn’t be investigated by the police.

Conservative party members are more likely than the general public to believe the government’s claim that no rules were broken

Six in 10 (59%) Tory members think there was a Christmas party held in Downing Street in late 2020 – including one in five (20%) who say there “definitely was” a party – with a quarter (26%) saying the party didn’t happen. That’s considerably lower than the 78% of British adults who suspected there was a Christmas party at Downing Street in our survey on 8 December.

Around half (49%) of Conservative Party members think that Downing Street broke the rules by having a Christmas party, with a little over a third (36%) saying they did not. Just 18% say they “definitely” broke the rules – much less decisive than the rest of the British public. On 8 December, 79% of Britons said Downing Street broke the rules, with more than half (54%) saying the rules were “definitely” broken.

No need to get the police involved, say Conservative members

A statement by Dominic Raab that the police “don’t normally investigate things that have taken place a year ago”, plus the Metropolitan Police’s own refusal to investigate the parties, have led to considerable public anger. Recently, the Independent Office for Police Conduct has also refused to investigate a complaint about the Met’s handling of the allegations.

Conservative party members agree with the decision not to investigate, however. Six in 10 (60%) say the police should not investigate the Downing Street party, with just a third (33%) saying they should.

This sentiment is in stark contrast to the wider British public – in our poll on 9 December, 70% of Britons thought that the police should investigate the alleged gatherings, with 57% saying they “definitely should”.

Should Boris Johnson’s team take the fall for the alleged gatherings?

Allegra Stratton became the first and, so far, only casualty of the Christmas party scandal after video emerged of her joking about holding a party during a mock press conference. But should more of Johnson’s team follow her?

We reported on Monday that while most party members still have confidence in Boris Johnson, they clearly question the judgement of his team – by 51% to 34%, Tory members think the prime minister doesn’t have a good team around him.

When it comes to Johnson’s team resigning for the Christmas parties, Tory members are similarly split - around half (48%) think that members of Boris Johnson’s staff should resign, if the parties took place, with 43% saying they should not.

See full results here