At least 30 more people will be fined for attending lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street and other parts of Whitehall, the Metropolitan Police has said.
More than 50 people have now been referred for fixed penalty notices as part of the Met’s ongoing criminal investigation into the Partygate scandal.
Last month, the force confirmed 20 people would be issued with FPNs after breaking Covid regulations.
It was later reported that former Cabinet Office ethics chief Helen MacNamara was among those receiving fines. MacNamara, who left government in January 2021 for a post at the Premier League, is expected to pay a £50 penalty for attending a karaoke party to mark the departure of then-No.10 private secretary Hannah Young in June 2020.
The Met has said it will not publish the names of the people it fines.
No.10 has said it will say if the prime minister, Boris Johnson, or cabinet secretary, Simon Case, receive fines, but has not committed to naming any other ministers or officials given FPNs.
Both Johnson and Case are known to have attended events that appear to have breached Covid regulations. The PM apologised earlier this year for attending a bring-your-own-booze party in the No.10 garden in May 2020, but claimed he believed the function was a “work event”.
Only MacNamara has publicly admitted to being fined so far, saying that she was “sorry for the error of judgement I have shown”.
In a statement this morning, the Met said: “We are making every effort to progress this investigation at speed, this includes continuing to assess significant amounts of investigative material from which further referrals may be made to ACRO [Criminal Records Office].”