PICTURED: Boris Johnson hosts No 10 Christmas quiz last year with staff in tinsel and Santa hats

Boris Johnson personally hosted a Christmas quiz at Downing Street last year, it has been revealed  – piling more pressure on the PM over four allegedly lockdown rule-breaking parties attended by his staff.

The Sunday Mirror has published a photograph which shows the Prime Minister sat between two colleagues during the event in December last year. 

The quiz took place on December 15 while London was under ‘no mixing’ guidance – and three days before the No. 10 Christmas party which is now being probed.

As many as 70 staff attended Downing Street in person despite invitations originally going out for a virtual quiz, according to the Mirror.

Pictures obtained by the paper show the Prime Minister on a TV screen beside an aide in a Santa hat at the time when London was under tier two restrictions that banned households from mixing. 

The PM has repeatedly batted away allegations of rule breaking last year. 

When video of spokeswoman Allegra Stratton joking about another Christmas party allegedly held by staff, Mr Johnson told Parliament: ‘I repeat that I have been repeatedly assured since these allegations emerged that there was no party, and that no Covid rules were broken.’

The PM is said to have angrily told friends  at the weekend that the BBC’s exhaustive coverage of the party scandal has ‘wasted’ too much ‘public time and attention’ when it should be concentrating on urging the public to get their jabs now that ‘Omicron is starting to rip’. 

But the photo from the quiz will raise fresh questions about rule breaking in Number 10. 

Downing Street staff are accused of holding four parties that may have broken lockdown rules last year – including one gathering on November 13 in the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat attended by his wife Carrie. 

In addition to the quiz, Downing Street staff are accused of holding a Christmas Party on December 18 and a leaving do at which the PM allegedly gave a short speech on November 27. 

Speaking about the quiz, sources told the Mirror that teams were huddled around computers discussing their answers to questions as they quaffed wine and beer bought from a nearby Tesco.

Pictures show the Prime Minister sat under a portrait of Margaret Thatcher on-screen making a special appearance as ‘quizmaster’ for one of the rounds, flanked by staff wearing tinsel and Santa hats. 

The quiz night is one of at least six parties across Whitehall from November to December last year when the Government was ordering the public to stay at home and protect the NHS.  

Pictured: Boris Johnson is seen on Saturday arriving at a central London hospital after his wife, Carrie Johnson gave birth to a baby girl earlier this week

Mr Johnson angrily told friends that the BBC’s exhaustive coverage of the party scandal has ‘wasted’ too much ‘public time and attention’ when it should be concentrating on urging the public to get their jabs now that ‘Omicron is starting to rip’. Pictured: The details behind the ‘partygate’ coverage which has dogged No10

The insider told the Mirror in one office alone there were four teams each made up of six people. 

According to the Daily Mirror’s Political Editor Pippa Crerar – who also broke the story about the December 18 Christmas Party – one source said around 70 staff stayed in No10 after work to play the quiz, that was initially supposed to be virtual.

At the time, London was under Tier 2 Covid-19 regulations which banned any social mixing between households, which Mr Johnson appears to have breached by mixing with his aides shown in the photographs obtained by The Mirror.

Official guidance at the time said: ‘You must not have a work Christmas lunch or party, where that is a primarily social activity and is not otherwise permitted by the rules in your tier.’

On December 15, 459 people died from coronavirus, while another 33,828 were infected, official data shows.

The latest revelations further call into question Downing Street’s assertion last week that no Christmas parties had taken place in No10 last year.

Speaking last week, the Prime Minister said: ‘I can tell you guidelines were followed at all times. I’ve satisfied myself that the guidelines were followed at all times.’  

The Mirror reports that staff were invited to the virtual quiz, that was put on to raise money for charity. The invites were sent a couple of weeks earlier, it said.

Citing their source, the newspaper said dozens signed up to take part online, but at 6.30pm that evening, many staff opted to stay in No10 instead.

Among the teams to take part were teams from the PM’s private office, the press office and the policy unit, it has been reported, with questions ranging from the history of Downing Street to Christmas song lyrics.

At the halfway point of the quiz, the Prime Minister surprised staff by appearing on screen to act as the quiz-master for one round that lasted 10 to 15 minutes, which the pictures obtained by the newspaper reportedly show.

‘It was just part of the culture. The PM turned a blind eye.

‘He seemed totally comfortable with gatherings,’ the Mirror’s source reportedly said.

Johnson has found himself facing criticism on a number of fronts in recent weeks from the funding of the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat to a claim he intervened to ensure pets were evacuated from Kabul during the chaotic Western withdrawal in August. 

But by far the most damaging has been reports that a party was held at Downing Street during a 2020 Christmas lockdown when such festivities were banned, with a video emerging last week which showed staff laughing and joking about it. 

The Prime Minister relented and allowed an apology of sorts when video emerged of aides joking about holding such a bash last year despite repeated official denials. 

The Daily Mirror was first to report last week that a festive bash took place in No 10 on December 18 last year as London was under Tier 3 restrictions.

Those measures explicitly banned Christmas lunches or parties where they are ‘a primarily social activity’, as a Government Twitter account pointed out to the public a day earlier.

As further sources came forward to confirm the party took place, reports said staff drank alcohol, wore Christmas jumpers and even organised Secret Santa gifts. 

Downing Street bluntly rejected the allegations, with official statements insisting ‘there was no Christmas party’ and no rules were broken.

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson told reporters: ‘I am satisfied myself that the guidelines were followed at all times.’

Hours after the Prime Minister tried to quell allegations of wrongdoing, ITV News published damning footage that gave increased weight to reports of the party.

Leaked video showed a mock press conference held between Downing Street aides and Allegra Stratton, then Mr Johnson’s press secretary, on December 22.

In the bombshell video a No 10 aide asks a question about ‘a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night’, to which Allegra Stratton laughed and replied: ‘I went home.’ Downing Street

In the rehearsal for televised briefings that were ultimately axed, they discussed a supposedly ‘fictional’ Downing Street party on ‘Friday’, which would have been December 18. 

After the video was made public, Mr Johnson warned there will be ‘disciplinary action’ for any members of staff who broke the rules, but the first departure over the affair was not over attendance at any party.

In a tearful statement outside her north London home, Ms Stratton apologised over her remarks that ‘seemed to make light of the rules’.

‘To all of you who lost loved ones, who endured intolerable loneliness and who struggled with your businesses, I am truly sorry and this afternoon I am offering my resignation to the Prime Minister,’ she added.