Partygate

As you're watching Partygate, you ask yourself 'Did this really happen?' And then you are shown the evidence to prove it from the Sue Gray Report; testimonies of family of those who died, who weren't allowed into hospital to say goodbye; film of mourners at funerals who were not permitted to comfort others. Reminders of the awful things the rest of the country was suffering, at the exact same time Johnson and his staff were living it up at 14 parties and then lied about it. This is a tough watch, but as the Covid Inquiry is deliberately kicked into the long grass, I think it's really important we're reminded of this.

I had a low opinion of Boris as a leader but could see his attraction to some as a sort of cheeky schoolboy charm. I believe he is highly intelligent but totally self centered .. the reconstructions here are Not particularly dramatic or amazing but the sheer scale of continued ramshackle behavior at the heart of Government in perhaps the most serious time I have ever experienced in the UK in my life( I am 73) is sickening... I do think Time will show Boris as the worst Leader and most self centered Prime Minister we have had....

It does cover the period of the crisis and feature real and reconstructed footage Well worth watching and a very important record for future historians!!

'Partygate' is a rather weakly comic representation of the events that brought down Boris Johnson; but also, quite literally, a deadly serious one. Right from the start it gets to one key point, when a caller to a radio-phone in offers a defence of the then Prime Minister, accused of hosting "parties" during the COVID-19 lockdowns. For sure, all social gatherings were banned, and if the makers of the laws don't follow them, how can anyone else be expected to. But if people working long hours gathered briefly to wish each other happy birthday, or had a quick drink in the garden after work, was that really so terrible? Even if wrong, you could understand how it had happened. Only, of course, it didn't happen like that. The Downing Street staff, from the top man downwards, acted with complete and reckless disregard for the law they were imposing on other people. Johnson has continued to insist that nothing occured you could really call a party; but that man is a serial liar. 'Partygate' suggests that the reason it all happened lies in the insufferable arrogance of a ruling class who take it for granted that no-one actually gets to tell them what to do, even themselves! It may still not be the worst thing that a British government has ever done; but the story speaks volumes of the contempt of our governors for the governed.

I watched Partygate to try to understand what went on in No. 10 during the covid lockdowns. I am not surprised by its content but I am angered by it. It's not a particularly good piece of drama but it is worth watching to learn about what happened behind "closed" doors while most ordinary people were obeying the rules. It has an interesting cast with quite a few familiar faces. I quite liked the interplay of acting interspersed with real footage from 2020/2021 although it has left me feeling angry, sad and rebellious. I think it's a drama to be filed safely away for the record and watched by future generations who want to look back in history.

Having lived through the pandemic, this programme was absolutely fascinating but at the same time pretty difficult to watch - it really hit home hard, as with the majority of us all, the lockdowns and restrictions put in place affected us all.

This depiction of the events that happened at No.10 really dramatises the complete flagrant disregard of rules, and laws our complete inept government put in place, that they clearly felt they were not subject to.

It is a total insult that whilst they were clearly having a jolly good time on cheese and wine, hard working people who simply wanted to see their loved ones, weren't able to, and if they did they incurred a ludicrous and disproportionate fine for breaking these rules....and Boris & crew, who were found guilty paid a measly £50 for the same breaches.

I'm not a politically driven person at all, but this has utterly infuriated me, and I feel downright upset how we have all been taken for mugs.

I didn't expect this watch to be so difficult or emotional, so toy may find the same, so be aware.