DOZENS of East Lancashire people died of Covid-19 while Boris Johnson and Downing Street staff held gatherings and parties during lockdown.

Using official government data, we have uncovered exactly how many people died of Covid-19 when the gatherings took place at the heart of Government

These figures include several key dates investigated by Sue Gray, who published her findings in full today, including Boris Johnson’s birthday party and a Bring Your Own Booze event.

In total, 60 people in East Lancashire died during the Downing Street gatherings.

According to the data, Burnley was one of the worst hit borough for Covid deaths over the ‘partygate’ dates, with 17 deaths reported.

Blackburn with Darwen wasn't far behind with 16 reported Covid deaths.

The 'partygate' dates with the highest deaths in the region were on December 10, 2020, which was a gathering in the Department for Education ahead of the Christmas break, and on November 13, 2020, which was the gathering in the Downing Street flat and also a leaving party for senior aide.

On both of these dates, 12 Covid-related deaths were reported in East Lancashire.

Some dates haven’t been included in the graph as no deaths occurred in East Lancashire.

They included:

  • June 18, 2020: Cabinet Office leaving do
  • June 19, 2020: Boris Johnson’s 56th birthday
  • April 16, 2021: Two leaving parties on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral

This data comes as the long-anticipated report into Downing Street parties held during coronavirus lockdowns has been published in full.

The investigation, carried out by senior civil servant Sue Gray, analysed events which took place between May 20, 2020, and April 16, 2021, in Whitehall while strict social distancing rules were in place.

“The events that I investigated were attended by leaders in government. Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen,” she said.

She said some of the more junior officials who attended parties “believed that their involvement in some of these events was permitted given the attendance of senior leaders”.

“The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture,” Ms Gray said.

She also said there were “multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff” during the events, which was “unacceptable”.

“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government,” she said.