Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Gray report criticises No 10’s ‘excessive’ alcohol culture, but this is the drug all UK is addicted too

Gray report criticises No 10’s ‘excessive’ alcohol culture, but this is the drug all UK is addicted too

The ‘wine fridge’ installed in an office suggests governing the country is thirsty work for Boris Johnson’s team

There is a common element in the myriad reports of alleged parties inside Downing Street: alcohol. From the photo of Boris Johnson sitting by a wine bottle in his garden to the claims of a suitcase of booze being wheeled into No 10, governing the country is clearly thirsty work.

Some of the most shocking claims centred around an apparent culture of alcohol use within No 10, not least the “wine fridge” installed in an office, and the evocative image of an official being dispatched to the local Co-op to fill a suitcase with wine during a boozy leaving party.

Sue Gray’s report was quietly damning on this: “The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time. Steps must be taken to ensure that every government department has a clear and robust policy in place covering the consumption of alcohol in the workplace.”

There have been some tentative steps by Johnson supporters to address the issue, but they have sought to present it as a wider issue that goes beyond the Johnson team.

“The task now is for us to address the underlying culture in Downing Street,” Oliver Dowden, the Conservative chair, said in a pointed remark earlier this month.

This is heavily disputed by the former staff of previous PMs. “This culture didn’t exist when Oliver worked in No 10 for David Cameron. It didn’t exist when I worked there for Theresa May,” remarked Gavin Barwell, both a former Tory MP and May’s ex-chief of staff. “So I guess what Oliver is saying is the prime minister needs to change the culture he has presided over.”

The truth would seem to fall somewhere between these two poles. It is hardly a secret that No 10 staff, particularly the predominantly young, very dedicated political appointees, who are paid well but face minimal job security, enjoy both a drink and a gossip – much like the journalists who cultivate them as sources.

This is not unique to the current No 10. In pre-Johnson times, the pubs around Westminster, not least the Red Lion, a short trot from both parliament and Downing Street, were hardly lacking in custom.


There are, however, two elements perhaps distinctive to the events uncovered in Gray’s report.

One is that elements of Johnson’s Downing Street, including some of those associated with Vote Leave and Boris Johnson, brought with them a work culture of punishing hours and little time for socialising with non-colleagues.

Drink inevitably played a role in this. Before the pandemic, a decidedly drunk-looking Cummings, clasping a glass of red wine, was once seen wandering along parliament’s press corridor asking directions to a particular newspaper office.

There have also been repeated reports about a social culture centred around Carrie Johnson, albeit a less boozy one, involving friends of the PM’s wife of around her age who work in government.

Perhaps more significant was an outside event: lockdown. With pubs closed but No 10 staff still in the office, alcohol became their outlet for socialising too. After all, they might have thought, they were together anyway and were working hard. As Gray notes, this is true: but so were many other people who did not break any rules.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×