Parliamentary reporter @TrinderMatt

BORIS and Carrie Johnson allegedly broke Covid-19 lockdown rules last Christmas by inviting a friend to Downing Street, it was revealed today.

Political campaigner Nimco Ali reportedly joined the Prime Minister and his wife for the 2020 festive period despite strict social distancing rules being in force in London amid a huge surge in virus cases.

The allegations concerning Ms Ali, who is godmother to the Johnsons’ 17-month-old son Wilfred, first appeared in US magazine Harper’s. 

The article was written by Lara Prendergast, executive editor of the Spectator magazine, which Mr Johnson edited before entering into politics.

A No 10 spokesman claimed that the couple had “followed coronavirus rules at all times. It is totally untrue to suggest otherwise.”

But neither the spokesperson for Downing Street nor Ms Johnson explicitly denied that Ms Ali spent last year’s festive period with the couple. 

Under the curbs the PM imposed just a week before Christmas, the planned relaxation of Covid-19 rules for the festive season was scrapped for large parts of south-east England — and cut to just Christmas Day for elsewhere.

Tier four restrictions were introduced in London, Kent, Essex and Bedfordshire, meaning that people could not mix indoors with anyone outside of their household. 

Social mixing was limited to meeting one person from a different household in an open public space, unless they were part of their existing support bubble.

In October 2020, Ms Ali landed a key role as a Home Office adviser on tackling violence against women and girls.

The post, thought to pay out £350 a day, was not advertised before being filled.