Michael Gove apologises after video emerges of Tory staff at Covid Xmas party

MICHAEL Gove MP has been forced to apologise after a video emerged of Tory staff dancing and joking at a Covid lockdown Christmas party.

The festive booze-up at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), in London, is said to have involved 24 people during the height of the pandemic.

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It was held on December 14, 2020, when many households had cancelled their festivities after being banned from socialising indoors.

The video comes after Tory staff were disciplined when a picture from the party first emerged in December 2021.

Revellers included two from the former PM Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

In the unseen footage, two employees pranced about to The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York.

They danced near a “keep your distance” sign before bashing into a table full of food.

Another is heard joking: “As long as we don’t stream that we’re, like, bending the rules,” after realising someone was recording.

Mr Gove has this morning said “it’s terrible” that the rules put in place to protect the country were broken.

The minister told Sky’s Sophy Ridge: “It’s terrible. I think it’s completely out of order. I want to apologise to everyone.

“These are people who were flouting the rules that were put in place to protect us all”

The bash is understood to have been organised by the campaign team of then London Mayor candidate Shaun Bailey – who resigned when photos of the event were first revealed.

CCHQ said “formal disciplinary action” was taken against four staff members, who were seconded to the campaign, over the “unauthorised” event.

The clip of Tories having fun and boozing has since been condemned by rival parties.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said the gathering is a “sickening insult” to Brits.

Slamming the Tories, she said: “Revellers at this lockdown Tory booze-up openly mocked the rules the British people followed.”

Labour were previously forced to dismiss an election “booze row” after Sir Keir Starmer enjoyed a beer after a day on the campaign trail.

He was seen mixing with party workers in a constituency office in Durham back in May 2021 – months after the Tory’s Xmas fun.

The clip comes just a week after a probe into Partygate produced reports – forcing Mr Johnson to quit.

Mr Johnson branded the findings “deranged” and a “charade” after MPs found him guilty of deliberately lying to the Commons.

After a 14-month investigation, the Commons Privileges Committee on Wednesday said the ex-PM deliberately misled MPs on five occasions.