‘We’re taking the absolute p***’ wasn’t available
Just when you thought the Downing Street Christmas party story couldn’t get any more offensive, the team names for the quiz have been revealed.
And they couldn’t possibly be more Tory.
The battle of wits featured top-tier puns including “The 6 Masketeers”, “Next Slide Please”, “Professor Quiz Whitty” and “Hands Face First Place”.
The painful attempts at comedy were unveiled by The Mirror, who last week broke the news that Boris Johnson had hosted a round of the virtual, in-person quiz in December last year.
Despite London’s Tier 2 restrictions, which explicitly banned mixing at work Christmas parties, Downing Street staff gathered around desks and reportedly knocked back fizz, wine and beer late into the night.
Number 10 has insisted the event was a “virtual quiz”, but admitted, “those who were in the office for work may have attended virtually from their desks”.
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At 9.39 pm on December 15, Number 10’s head of HR told staff taking part in the quiz to leave through the rear exit in a message sent to the chat group being used for the quiz, which read: “Go out the back.”
Last week, Johnson said he was “sickened and furious” to see video of Downing Street staff making jokes about lockdown rules. The video led to Allegra Stratton quitting.
Presumably, he’ll be pretty upset when he sees himself and teams from his private office, policy unit, and press office were amongst those taking part in breaking them.
“I apologise for the impression that has been given, that staff in Downing Street take this less than seriously,” Johnson said at Prime Minister’s Questions last week.
“I’m sickened myself and furious about that.”
According to The Mirror, other teams including “Beaver Fever”, “Rebels without a Claus” and “We’ve been clear” defied HR’s advice to participate in the quiz from behind perspex teams.
The Metropolitan police have previously said it will not investigate the Downing Street Christmas party widely reported to have been held last year.
