‘A failure of leadership’: What the front pages had to say about Boris Johnson

Well, there’s not much happening out there in the world of politics, but the nation’s newspapers have managed to pull something together for their front pages this morning.

We’re joking of course, with publications reacting to a truly remarkable day in the House of Commons, which saw Boris Johnson forced into a humiliating apology following Sue Gray’s damning report into allegations of lockdown-busting parties inside Downing Street.

The report saw number 10 criticised for “failures of leadership and judgement”, with the redacted report revealing that the Metropolitan Police are conducting a criminal investigation into 12 separate events in No 10 and other government departments.

Here’s what the front pages had to say about Boris Johnson and the events of Monday evening.

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The Independent ran with the “failures of leadership” quote from the report in the headline, focusing on the 300 pictures linked to number 10 gatherings

The Metro also ran with “a failure of leadership”, highlighting the “damning verdict on boozy pandemic parties at No.10”.

The Guardian focused on the anger felt by Conservative MPs, with the splash: “Tories turn on PM over Gray report”.

The i went with the headline “PM pleads for his job” and also added the “failures of leadership” quote from the Gray report.

The FT, meanwhile, went with the headline: “Johnson rejects calls to quit after Gray’s scathing report on parties”.

The Mirror went with “zero shame”, declaring: “Boris Johnson again refused to quit over Partygate despite Sue Gray revealing police are probing 12 lockdown bashes at No 10”.

The Times focuses on the Met investigation, running the headline: “Police investigate PM’s four lockdown parties.”

The Sun focuses on the Met investigation and claims of an Abba-themed party in Downing Street.

The Daily Mail ran the headline “now publish the whole damn thing” and called for the report to be released in full.

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