The new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said the partygate scandal was “overblown” and the government should not have fined people for “everyday activities” during lockdown.
Ms Badenoch, who won the battle to replace Rishi Sunak on Saturday, said the public was “not wrong to be upset about partygate” – when those working in Downing Street held parties during COVID lockdowns.
However, she said she thought partygate was “overblown” and the Conservative government should not have created fixed penalty notices for disobeying COVID restrictions.
“The problem was that we should not have criminalised everyday activities the way that we did,” the North West Essex MP told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.
“People going out for walks, all of them having fixed penalty notices. That was what ended up creating a trap for Boris Johnson.”
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The scandal saw Mr Johnson fined for attending a party in Downing Street, one of several that took place under his tenure in breach of Covid lockdown regulations.
She said it was staff in Downing Street disobeying the rules that ended up with Mr Johnson, who was prime minister at the time, and then chancellor Mr Sunak being fined.
“People in government didn’t obey the rules, but they were not MPs,” she said.
“They were often staffers and I think that’s the way that we had created those regulations, ended up entrapping [Boris Johnson].”
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Ms Badenoch resigned from Mr Johnson’s government in 2022 but said she thought he was “a great prime minister”, however, there were “some serious issues which were not being resolved” which made the public think “we were in it for ourselves”.
After Mr Johnson was fined for going to his own birthday party in Downing Street, he said: “In all frankness, at that time it did not occur to me that this might have been a breach of the rules.”
Ellie Reeves, chair of the Labour Party, said Ms Badenoch calling partygate “overblown” will “add insult to injury for families across Britain who followed the rules, missing loved one’s deaths and family funerals, whilst her colleagues partied in Downing Street”.
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Speaking after winning the leadership campaign, Ms Badenoch said the Conservative party needs to be honest about the mistakes it made that led to it losing July’s election.
“Our party is critical to the success of our country,” Ms Badenoch said.
“But to be heard, we have to be honest, honest about the fact that we made mistakes, honest about the fact that we let standards slip.
“The time has come to tell the truth, to stand up for our principles, to plan for our future, to reset our politics and our thinking, and to give our party and our country the new start that they deserve.
“It is time to get down to business. It is time to renew.”
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Ms Badenoch is in the process of choosing her new shadow cabinet and is understood to want her top team to be in place by Tuesday.
She previously suggested all those who ran to be leader against her should be included.
However, James Cleverly said on Friday he would be returning to the backbenches after coming third in the contest.
