Prime Minister should not resign over #Partygate, says Avon and Somerset PCC
The man in charge of holding Avon and Somerset Police to account says most people are not bothered that Boris Johnson broke lockdown rules
The man in charge of holding Avon and Somerset Police to account has told us he does not think either the Prime Minister or Chancellor should resign for breaking lockdown rules.
Yesterday (April 12) it was confirmed both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have been fined £50 by the Metropolitan Police for attending a surprise birthday party for Mr Johnson in Downing Street, on 19 June 2020.
At that point social gatherings of more than two people inside were banned.
Despite that though and with both admitting they made a mistake, Mark Shelford who is the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Avon and Somerset, has told us he thinks both should keep their jobs.
"I have been out meeting a lot of people over the last few weeks and last days and people are more concerned about the economy, about Covid recovery but also about the war in Ukraine and that's where the emphasis is," Mr Shelford, who is a Conservative, said.
"This is a London issue not a local issue and I don't feel, because I don't know the specific background and the details I don't want to comment further on that."
So far the Metropolitan Police have issued more than 50 fines related to lockdown breaking parties in government buildings.
There have been widespread calls from opposition politicians for both the Prime Minister and Chancellor to go, but Conservative politicians generally have either chosen to throw their support behind both, or remain quiet on the issue.
North East Somerset MP Jacob Rees Mogg has taken to social media to say the Prime Minister's apology "ought to close this matter".
"There is a war on and the Prime Minister, supported by the Chancellor, provides the leadership the nation needs," he Tweeted on Tuesday.
Speaking to the BBC Transport Secretary Grant Shapps also said neither Mr Johnson nor Mr Sunak should resign, as have all other cabinet ministers with the exception of Home Secretary Priti Patel.
The only Conservative MP to have publicly broken ranks is Nigel Mills who represents Amber Valley in Derbyshire and has said the Prime Minister's position is now untenable.
We have asked several Tory MPs from the South West if they would like to comment including Liam Fox, a former Defence Secretary.
All bar one have failed to respond, with the exception of Jack Lopresti the Conservative MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke in South Gloucestershire, who said he did not want to comment.
We asked people in Bath whether they agreed with PCC Shelford, that most people are not that concerned.
"Most people my age, I think are appalled by this," one man told us.
"We've given up so much of our lives over the last two or three years, following the rules which they set, while at the same time they were breaking them."
Another agreed.
"(It's) really shameful," another man said.
"They knew what the rules were, as we all did.
"They were the ones who were, not just making them but broadcasting them live...and yet they were so obviously breaking the rules, but not only that they consistently lied to parliament about it and it's just terribly disingenuous and insulting to the families of those who lost loved ones and weren't even able to attend the funerals."
Prior to being fined the Prime Minister had repeatedly asserted that no rules were broken by him or anyone else in government.
He now admits he did, but says he did not realise at the time that his actions were against the lockdown rules.
Others we spoke to though agreed with Mr Shelford that the whole thing is not a big deal.
"I'm a huge Boris Johnson supporter," one woman told us.
"They were all working under the same roof," she said.
"So I don't understand why people have got so angry about it.
"What are they meant to do when they work together? Are they meant to work separately then?"
In total of the 15 groups we spoke to eight felt they should resign, four felt they should not, two said they should be fined more but keep their jobs and one said they were not bothered.