British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized for the "illegal gathering", and the leader of the opposition party demanded his resignation

On January 12, local time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to attending a gathering in the garden of the Prime Minister's Palace on May 20, 2020, and expressed a "heartfelt apology" for this.

During the prime minister's questioning hours that day, Johnson said he walked into the prime minister's palace garden on May 20, 2020 to thank staff, stopped for 25 minutes and then returned to his office, when he "thought it was a work activity". He added that in hindsight, he should have let everyone back into the office and should have found other ways to thank the staff.

Johnson said he recognized the "pain" that people were causing by covid-19 restrictions and "they were angry with me and the government I lead." He argues that even if the campaign could be technically considered compliant, millions of people would disagree. He admitted, "There are some things we simply didn't get right and I have to take responsibility for them." Kiel Stammer, the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, accused the prime minister of deceiving the public for months, saying Johnson had finally admitted to attending a gathering in the garden of the Prime Minister's Palace, where he urged Johnson to "do decent things and resign".

The Guardian published a photo taken in May 19, 2020, showing Johnson, his wife Carrie, and more than a dozen others "gathering" in the garden at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's Office. They sat or stood, there was red wine and cheese on the table, and all of them were not wearing masks. The United Kingdom was still in the national "lockdown" epidemic prevention phase at the time, prohibiting gatherings of more than two people, requiring at least two meters of social spacing, and not meeting face-to-face in the workplace "unless it is particularly necessary".