News that Durham Police will investigate claims that Keir Starmer broke lockdown rules will come as a blow to the Labour leader, who thought he had put the incident behind him months ago.
But Labour will be relieved – and Conservatives furious – that the force held back the announcement of the new investigation, launched on 30 April, until after polling had closed in the local elections.
Durham Constabulary announced in February that it would take “no further action” after viewing video of Sir Keir, taken through a window during a visit to the city in April 2021.
The footage showed the Labour leader drinking from a bottle of beer, with other party workers in the same room, part of the constituency offices of City of Durham MP Mary Foy.
At the time, the UK was in Step 2 of the phase-out of coronavirus restrictions, with pubs and restaurants permitted to serve outdoors, but indoor mixing between different households banned apart from for essential work reasons.
Specific rules had been set out to allow Covid-secure campaigning for the 6 May local elections and Hartlepool byelection, which was the reason for Starmer’s visit to Durham that day.
Since the pictures first emerged, Sir Keir and Labour have insisted that it was a work event and that any food or alcohol consumed was part of the normal requirement for people to eat and drink while working.
Durham Police said in February they had reviewed the video footage and would take “no further action”.
A spokesman said then: “We do not believe an offence has been established in relation to the legislation and guidance in place at that time.”
However, the issue was revived last week by Tory MP Richard Holden, who wrote to Durham’s chief constable Jo Farrell urging her to reopen investigation.
With local elections less than a fortnight away looking set to be dominated by Partygate, the move appeared part of a determined attempt by the Conservatives to take the sting out of Labour attacks.
While deputy chief constable Ciaron Irvine did not at that point say the force would review the inquiry, his promise to make enquiries with the original investigation team was seized upon by the Tories and their supporters as an indication that Starmer was once again under suspicion.
Labour’s position was undermined when the party was forced to admit that deputy leader Angela Rayner was present in the room, saying that its previous denials were mistaken.
And Conservative-leaning newspapers devoted front pages day after day to the supposed scandal, establishing that a curry order totalling £200 was put in for up to 30 aides late that evening.
Questions were asked over whether Starmer and his team went back to work, possibly as late as 11pm, after consuming the meal.
The row provided Conservative candidates with a response to voters who raised Partygate on the doorstep, effectively suggesting that while Boris Johnson may have breached rules, other politicians were doing the same.
It meant that Sir Keir was repeatedly forced onto the defensive in TV and radio interviews. And it made Labour campaigners hold back on criticisms of Johnson over Partygate, for fear of throwing the spotlight once more onto their own leader.
Starmer always insisted he was happy to co-operate with police and was confident that they would find no Covid restrictions had been broken.
‘We were working, we stopped, we ate,” he said. “No breach of the rules. No party.”
Labour insists that the incident – branded “Keir’s beers” by critics – bears no comparison to the string of parties held in Downing Street during Covid restrictions.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating 12 such events, including some which were explicitly intended as social events, including a number of leaving dos and a “bring your own booze” party in the No 10 garden.
Some observers suggest that Starmer overplayed his hand by calling for the resignation not only of the prime minister but also chancellor Rishi Sunak after they received £50 fines for attending Mr Johnson’s birthday party in No 10 in June 2020.
Suggesting that Mr Sunak’s inadvertent involvement, which arose from him turning up a few minutes early for a meeting, is a matter for resignation sets a very low bar, which may come back to bite Starmer if he is fined by Durham Police.
