DID RISHI DUMP THE PARTYGATE VID TO FINISH OFF RIVAL BORIS?

In what seems like a highly suspicious move to discredit former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the first video of one of the so-called "Partygate" parties has finally dropped, two-and-a-half years after it was taken. 

As reported by the Guardian: 

The video, obtained by the Mirror, shows members of staff drinking alcohol at the gathering in London on 14 December 2020, and mocking lockdown rules the public were following at the time. At least 24 people were in attendance, including Shaun Bailey – made a peer in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list – whose campaign team organised the event. He left before the video was taken.

Ben Mallet, who was awarded an OBE in Johnson’s honours list, is pictured wearing Christmas braces and a blue tie. Mallet was the Conservatives’ campaign director for the 2021 London mayoral election and is running Moz Hossain’s mayoral campaign.

In the video, two people appear to dance past a sign saying “Please keep your distance” before colliding with a table full of buffet food. In the background, someone can be heard saying: “As long as we don’t stream that we’re like, bending the rules.”

What makes this remarkable is that it is the only video yet of one of these parties to be released -- we have just had photos and testimony -- and, secondly, it was dropped just a few days after a "war" broke out in the Tory Party between present Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the latter's resignation honours list.

Behind this conflict is Johnson's belief that he was "unfairly" and "undemocratically" removed from power and his hope to position himself to become leader of the Conservative Party again following the next General Election, which Sunak is widely expected to lose. 

By dropping the video now, enemies of Johnson make it harder for him to seek a safe Tory seat before the election and thus to campaign to succeed Sunak. From Sunak's point of view, totally removing Johnson from the picture also helps to solidify the party behind him going into next year's election and thus slightly improves his chances of escaping defeat.