The Mirror’s Pippa Crerar has been widely lauded for her work exposing Number 10 Christmas parties last year.
New pictures emerged this week showing a “raucous” festive bash thrown by Tory aides during coronavirus restrictions last Christmas.
The image showed 24 people crowded together in a medium-sized room in the party’s Westminster HQ, with some of the group wearing paper hats and one sporting a House of Commons Christmas jumper.
It comes on the back of pictures of Boris Johnson playing quiz-master at a Tory Party quiz with two aides by his side wrapped in tinsel.
Crerar’s headline read: ‘Yes he was Taking Us For Fools (Again.)’, while the sub-head added:
“Tinsel, Santa hats as Boris hosted this Covid rule-breaking No 10 Christmas quiz.”
Political scalps
Shaun Bailey has since quit as chair of the London Assembly’s police and crime committee, but according to reports, it could be the prime minister’s scalp she is really gunning for.
Mediatel reporter Raymond Snoddy compared the Mirror reporter to Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who brought down Richard Nixon, president of the United States over Watergate.
He said: “Until now, Johnson has batted off criticism and breaches of the rules that would have upended more conventional politicians by ignoring them, peremptorily declaring matters closed when they weren’t and the liberal use of his dressing-up box.
“Journalists have failed to land a knockout blow.
“Until now.
Reminding readers that the greatest threat to Johnson could still be to come, Snoddy added that it isn’t always the initial deed that sinks those at the helm of a ship.
Often, the “botched cover-up” is the final nail in the coffin.
Briton of the year
Several people elsewhere have been similarly complimentary of Crerar’s work.
We’ve rounded up the best of the reaction below:
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