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       Boris Johnson takes ‘personal responsibility’ for North Shropshire by-election loss

       Cabinet secretary Simon Case has stepped down from his role leading the internal inquiry into the Downing Street party allegations, after reports that he attended a drinks event in breach of Covid rules at his own office saw calls for him to resign.

       It came as another blow to Boris Johnson, who resisted calls to appoint an external investigator in his place, just hours after his party lost the true-blue seat of North Shropshire for the first time nearly 200 years after a 34 per cent swing to the Lib Dems in a by-election triggered by Tory sleaze.

       Furious Tory MPs, many of whom considered the ballot something of a referendum on the PM’s leadership, warned that the “Teflon has come off” after the defeat, with one warning that Mr Johnson has “one last chance” to make changes at the heart of his operation.

       Recommended Simon Case is now off the Downing Street Christmas party case – another mess of Boris Johnson’s own making Boris Johnson told to show ‘humility’ by Tory MPs after by-election thrashing ‘The end of a one-party state’: Inside North Shropshire by-election count that saw historic Tory defeat

       Key Points Simon Case forced to resign as head of Downing Street party probe Boris Johnson has ‘one last chance’, Tory MPs warn

       Show latest update 1639816699 Allegra Stratton footage ‘was point the campaign took off’ in North Shropshire, MP says

       The emergence of footage showing No 10 officials joking about allegations of a party in Downing Street last year “was the point the campaign took off in its momentum”, Lib Dem MP Layla Moran has said of the North Shropshire by-election.

       Andy Gregory 18 December 2021 08:38

       1639816009 Boris Johnson has ‘one last chance’ after staggering by-election defeat, Tory MPs warn

       There was no short supply of MPs issuing furious warnings to the PM yesterday both anonymously and on the record, after the party’s devastating loss in the North Shropshire by-election.

       One former cabinet minister told The Independent that the days of Johnson being able to stride unscathed through scandal after scandal were over, saying: “The Teflon has come off.”

       While few MPs believe that the prime minister is facing an imminent leadership challenge, many believe that he has only a matter of months to improve his performance or be subjected to a determined bid to remove him.

       Veteran backbencher Sir Roger Gale became the first to confirm he has submitted a letter of no confidence to the chair of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, who will call a confidence vote if he receives requests from 55 MPs.

       “The prime minister is now in last orders time,” said Gale. “One more strike and he’s out.”

       This message was echoed by many Tories, including one MP who told The Telegraph: “We have to see some central changes, firstly in No 10, and secondly in the way the MPs are managed by the whips and the [liaison role of parliamentary private secretaries].

       “I think he’s got one last chance to get that sorted by mid-February next year, otherwise you’re into local election season and after that point I don’t know if you can come back.”

       Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the criticisms in detail here:

       Boris Johnson told to show ‘humility’ by Tory MPs after by-election thrashing ‘The Teflon has come off’: Backbenchers warn PM must shape up to avoid leadership challenge

       Andy Gregory 18 December 2021 08:26

       1639815454 Labour and SNP react to appointment of new No 10 parties probe lead

       Here’s some of the reaction to the news that top civil servant Sue Gray is to lead the investigation in the Downing Street parties allegations:

       SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said that “having somebody else from the Civil Service marking their own isn't good enough”.

       Mr Blackford told BBC Newsnight that “it needs to be someone from authority from outwith government, from outwith the Civil Service,” adding: “I would suggest that the best way to do that would be by having a judge-led inquiry.”

       And Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said Ms Gray now has the task of restoring public trust.

       “At the moment, people are saying ‘which department didn’t have a party?”’ Ms Rayner said, adding: “It’s incredibly disappointing because we all know what was happening when these parties were going on, people couldn’t see their loved ones who were dying, and were making incredible sacrifices.

       “So I do think that the investigation has to get to the bottom, but I think that the evidence already is showing that Boris Johnson has set a tone for this government and has allowed this to happen under his watch.”

       Andy Gregory 18 December 2021 08:17

       1639815148 Civil servant once described as ‘deputy God’ to lead Downing Street probe

       Another top civil servant, Sue Gray, will replace Simon Case in leading the Downing Street inquiry, it emerged last night.

       Ms Gray, who is second permanent secretary at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, was previously director-general of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office from 2012 to 2018.

       She oversaw the Plebgate inquiry in 2012 after former chief whip Andrew Mitchell was accused of calling a police officer a “pleb” at the Downing Street gates, and was once described as “deputy God” by then Labour MP Paul Flynn in a meeting of Parliament's Public Administration Committee the same year.

       Former Tory MP and Cabinet office minister Oliver Letwin is reported to have said of Ms Gray: “It took me precisely two years before I realised who it is that runs Britain. Our great United Kingdom is actually entirely run by a lady called Sue Gray, the head of ethics or something in the Cabinet Office. Unless she agrees, things just don't happen.”

       Andy Gregory 18 December 2021 08:12

       1639814451 Top civil servant steps down from No 10 parties inquiry

       Our economics editor Anna Isaac and political editor Andrew Woodcock have more on our headline story this morning – Cabinet secretary Simon Case’s resignation from his role leading the probe into Downing Street Christmas party allegations.

       The announcement that Mr Case was “recusing” himself from the inquiry came hours after The Independent and Politico jointly published claims from Whitehall officials that the civil servant was present at an impromptu Christmas event at his office and an adjoining waiting room in the Cabinet Office’s 70 Whitehall HQ last December.

       A source close to the Cabinet Office said they could not rule out that drinks had been consumed at civil servants’ desks, but a spokesman initially rejected claims of an organised gathering, saying in a statement: “These allegations are categorically untrue.”

       But by Friday evening, the department had admitted that a quiz event involving drinks had taken place.

       You can read more details here:

       Case steps down from No 10 parties inquiry after reports he attended Christmas event Probe handed over to another Whitehall mandarin after opposition parties said cabinet secretary’s involvement untenable

       Andy Gregory 18 December 2021 08:00

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       Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of UK politics, where we’ll be providing rolling updates on the latest happenings in Westminster and beyond.

       Andy Gregory 18 December 2021 07:52