Boris Johnson’s advisor, who made a joke about Downing Street’s Christmas party in a famous video, refused to answer any questions as he ran from a Whitehall media scrum. Details of four other gatherings were revealed.
Ed Oldfield was a former public schoolboy of 23 years. He kept his head down while he moved purposefully through Whitehall, being followed by a pack of journalists.
Journalists asked questions such as, “Was Downing Street having a party?”Journalists asked questions like, “Was there a party at Downing Street?” and “Are you going to resign?” to ‘Have any thoughts about the party?’ Before giving up on him and walking off.
Mr Oldfield was heard on leaked footage joking about the bash with Boris Johnson’s former £125,000-a-year press secretary Allegra Stratton during a mock news conference.
He asks: ‘I’ve just seen reports on Twitter that there was a Downing Street Christmas Party on Friday night – do you recognise those reports?’
Ed Oldfield (23-year-old ex-public schoolboy) kept his head down while he moved purposefully through Whitehall, being followed by a pack of journalists
Journalists asked questions such as, “Was Downing Street having a party?”Are you looking to quit? (Have your got any thoughts about the party?’)
Ms Stratton replies initially: I went home..’ She then giggles and says,?hold on!’ To which Mr Oldfield responds:?Would the Prime minister condone having a holiday party?
She laughs and asks “What’s your answer?” to which Mr Oldfield, also laughing, replies ‘I don’t know’, and another staffer suggests ‘It wasn’t a party… it was cheese and wine’.
Reported: Allegra Stratton, a former schoolboy who was also a son of Vice Lord Lieutenant Kent, joked with No10 Special Advisor
Ed Oldfield 23
MailOnline by Nick Craven
The Downing Street special adviser heard joking on the now-notorious video about a lockdown-busting party at Number 10 is a former public schoolboy and son of the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Kent, MailOnline can reveal.
Ed Oldfield, 23, was heard sharing a giggle with Boris Johnson’s former press secretary Allegra Stratton in a mock news conference in the shameful leaked footage that prompted Ms Stratton to resign from her £125,000-a-year government job this afternoon.
Mr Oldfield was heard on the tape saying ‘I’ve just seen reports on Twitter that there was a Downing Street Christmas Party on Friday night – do you recognise those reports?’
Initial response by Ms Stratton was “I went home.” Then she laughs and adds, “hold on”, to which Mr Oldfield replies, “Would you condone having a christmas party?”
Ms. Stratton chuckles and responds “What’s the solution?” to which Mr Oldfield, also laughing, replies ‘I don’t know’, and another staffer suggests ‘It wasn’t a party… it was cheese and wine’.
Mr Olfield, a former pupil at £34,000-a-year the King’s School in Rochester, Kent, comes from a family whose recent history has been marred by tragedy, MailOnline has learned.
He is the son of an investor banker, and his older half-brother Henry who died four years ago from drug overdose at age 25.
The Vice Lord Lieutenant Kent’s son is the Downing Street Special Adviser (right).
Ed’s father Richard (66), a former Vice Lord Lieutenant in Kent was involved in an accident that resulted the death of a young motorcyclist just a few months following Henry’s passing.
Henry was a pilot who had struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for many years. This witness to his death in 2018 said that he died from this. After two months in rehab, he fled and boarded a plane for Bogota.
According to the court, he had called his father on the day of his death, sounding clear-headed, and Mr Oldfield who lives in the 85-acre Dodding Place Gardens estate, near Sittingbourne (Kent), offered to fly out for his son.
The next morning, he was discovered dead at his Bogota hotel. A post-mortem examination revealed that he died of a “cocktail” of drugs, which included psychotic substances as well as cocaine.
The hearing was brief and Mr Oldfield’s son told him that he was “coming home soon”
Allison Summers was the Coroner and pronounced an accidental death.
“Unfortunately, drug users who have relapsed after abstinence may overdose if their tolerance has decreased.
The scandal over Downing Street’s illegal Christmas party last year has rocked Westminster for the past week, prompting Ms. Stratton’s resignation.
But it has now emerged that the December 18 event may have been only one of as many as six Whitehall bashes held in the run-up to Christmas – at a time when the country was under stringent Covid restrictions.
On the day Dominic Cummings quit No10, it was claimed that there was a “leaving do” where the PM made a speech, held a game night, and celebrated in Downing Street. It was also alleged that there were other parties at Tory headquarters as well in Whitehall.
The ‘raucous’ dos, at which several officials were said to have been seen ‘rat-a**ed’ on copious amounts of wine, have certainly left Whitehall with a lasting hangover as the events are probed by the Cabinet Secretary and the Met Police.
This Mail article reveals what happened in Whitehall during the period when Britain was beset by virus outbreaks.
TABLE GROANING – BOTTLES of wine and THE ‘CHRISTMAS FEST’
The tradition began at the end the corridor which leads to the legendary black door in 10 Downing Street.
On Fridays, officials from No10 would put bottles of wine at the end, and they were placed on a table down the hallway.
In the wood-panelled press office – once used as Gordon Brown’s ‘war room’ during his time as PM – staff would toast the end of the week with drink at their desks.
Yesterday Boris Johnson had to direct Simon Case, Cabinet Secretary to look into allegations that things went a bit sour on Friday just before Christmas.
Staff allegedly planned to coordinate plans in WhatsApp messages and email during the week up to December 18.
In addition to the wine-filled bottles, there was plenty of food on the table including camembert cheese platters and baguettes. Officials gathered in the large room with a view of St James’s Park where there are chandeliers hanging from the ceiling to mark the close of an extremely difficult year.
It is believed that as many as 40 people were present at the “unofficial” Christmas party, some of them wearing festive jumpers. Sources said most of those present were civil servants drawn from the press office and events teams, but special advisers – the PM’s political appointees – were also invited. One of the people asked was able to confirm that Secret Santa gifts were required for staff.
As the night went by, more officials from other areas of the building came to the party. Yesterday, however, the press secretary for Prime Minister Johnson insisted that Mr Johnson wasn’t one of them.
She said that he was at work all night.
This event occurred two days after London had been placed in the most severe coronavirus restriction at that time. People were prohibited from mixing indoors with people outside of their support bubble or household.
According to the Government website, there were no exemptions from work-related rules. However, the Government stated that ‘You must not host a work Christmas dinner or party if that’s a primary social activity that’s not permitted under your tier’.
Johnson and his ministers remained firm in their assertions that no party took place or any rules were broken since news of the gathering was reported last week. Yesterday’s footage showed Allegra Stratton making fun of what happened, and the evidence was overwhelming.
THE “DOM’S GONE” BASH AT PM’S NO10 FLAT
A party is also alleged to have been held in the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat on November 13 – the day that Dominic Cummings quit.
The festivities are said to have kicked off earlier, with the leaving do for Lee Cain, the Prime Minister’s departing director of communications. Mr Johnson is said to have given a speech at the event.
Cain resigned alongside Cummings after they clashed and ultimately lost in a battle for control with the PM’s now wife Carrie Symonds. This event is facing questions over whether it breached the rules.
However, the party is believed to have carried on upstairs that evening after Cummings unceremoniously walked out of Downing Street carrying a cardboard box.
On social media yesterday, Mr Cummings asked if the Cabinet Secretary’s investigation into the Downing Street pre-Christmas bash would also look into the ‘flat party on Fri 13 Nov’ as well as ‘the other flat parties, and the flat’s ‘bubble’ policy’.
A party is also alleged to have been held in the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat on November 13 – the day that Dominic Cummings quit
It is believed that the festivities started earlier when Lee Cain (the Prime Minister’s former director of communications) left. An alleged speech was given by Mr Johnson at the event
The bubble reference is thought to refer to the decision to allow the PM’s then fiancee – and now wife – Carrie Symonds’ best friend Nimco Ali at No10 over the festive period ‘to help support and look after’ baby Wilfred.
Yesterday, Boris Johnson was asked if there had been a party on this date. He replied: “No. But I’m certain that the guidelines were followed and that the rules were observed at all times.”
The flat is shared by Mr Johnson and Carrie, as well as Wilfred. There were said to have been ‘always parties in the flat’, according to one source. Another claimed that Carrie was addicted.
According to insiders, staff from the press room witnessed people climbing up the stairs leading to their flat the night of November 13. They also heard the loud music coming directly above the flat. According to one official, they made the racket only possible at a party.
Mail received the names and addresses of up to six senior Government officials (current or former) as well other persons known to be in close proximity to Mrs Johnson. Several people strongly denied these claims yesterday when I approached them.
However, a spokesperson for Mrs Johnson stated emphatically that this was total nonsense. It is untrue that Mrs Johnson would suggest the contrary. She has always followed coronavirus rules.
Later, the PM’s spokesperson confirmed that they would not investigate any alleged November 13th party.
After a power struggle Mr Cummings resigned and is now highly critical of government.
“CRAMMED CHEEK – JOWL” AT LEAVING DO
It is reported that up to 50 people crowded into Downing Street on the 27th of November last year for a “Leaving Do”. Boris Johnson delivered a speech as an outgoing aide and Johnson addressed them.
No10 staff reportedly crammed ‘cheek by jowl’ into a medium-sized room in what was described as a ‘Covid nightmare’ – while England was in its second lockdown.
According to a Daily Mail source, the incident was an unexpected leaving for Cleo Watson (an adviser who effectively served as Mr Cummings sidekick while he lived in Downing Street). Because of her length, the aide was nicknamed “gazelle” because she has long legs.
“It wasn’t a party at all, definitely not a Christmas party.” Sources said that it was an entire group of employees from the same company coming together to grieve a popular staff member.
“Was there a drink?” Yes. Was the PM in there? Yes. Yes. Although it was not an error, the look isn’t great.
The Daily Mail was told by a source that it had been an unplanned leaving for Cleo (pictured below with Cummings, December 17, 2019), a Cummings adviser who served as his sidekick in Downing Street.
A BROKEN DOOR AS THE TORY STAFF PARTY AT HEADQUARTERS
There have been several reports that parties were operating in other departments of government, and even at ToryHQ.
The Times last night reported that Conservative campaign staff hosted an event for Shaun Bailey, who was the unsuccessful candidate to be Mayor of London.
Around 25 people met in Westminster’s basement at the Matthew Parker St office of the party on December 14th, as London was subject to Tier 2 restrictions.
According to some, the revelers at the “raucous” bash wore ‘festive headgear and danced and drunk which led to the destruction of a door.
Matt Hancock, then the Health Secretary, announced that the capital would be moving into Tier 3 hours prior to the party.
Last night, a Conservative spokesperson confirmed that there was an “unauthorized social gathering” in Matthew Parker Street basement and stated that “formal disciplinary actions were taken against four CCHQ employees who were seconded for the Bailey campaign.”
A FESTIVE QUIZ IN THE CABINET OFFICE
According to reports, a Christmas quiz was held at the Cabinet Office by No10 employees at another time in December. However, the date of the event is unclear.
According to a BBC source, emails were sent to all No10 employees inviting them to participate in the quiz.
According to reports, staff arrived to work wearing festive jumpers in advance of the event and didn’t realize how ridiculous it would be to host a quiz during lockdown.
Although some quiz takers used Zoom to access the site, BBC reports that the majority of those who attended the event in person were seated in six-person groups.
According to one source, Dan Rosenfield was the newly appointed chief of staff for the Prime Minister. He told The Times that it was the first time that many of them had met him.
Yesterday, Downing Street insisted that the quiz was “virtual”.
Although the exact date of the Christmas quiz is unknown, it was reported that it took place in the Cabinet Office at No10 Staff sometime during December.
PS… DO NOT FORGET WILLIAMSON’S PARTY
Gavin Williamson, the then minister to Education at the Cabinet, gathered his officials in the canteen of Department for Education for a Christmas celebration on December 10, last year.
Williamson was said to have made a short speech before the event’s ‘drinks & canapes’, where officials were able to’mingle’ with each other and drink wine. It was described as “reckless” by one source.
Yesterday, Susan AclandHood, permanent secretary, admitted she was at the event, where “drinks, snacks” were provided.
In a speech before MPs she said that around ‘two dozen people’ had attended the meeting, which was initiated by former education secretary to “thank staff” for their hard work during the pandemic. However, she insists that no guests were invited.
When she was asked about whether it was an organized event, she replied: “While it was work-related, we admit that it would have been more convenient not to gather in this manner at this particular moment.”
The department’s spokesperson said that the meeting was held in London’s DfE building at a time in which the city was under Tier 2 restrictions.