Head of UK ‘partygate’ probe mired in office’s own events

By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s first choice to investigate allegations that government officials held Christmas parties last year when COVID-19 rules barred such gatherings has stepped aside. Simon Case, the head of the civil service, resigned from leading the investigation after  after he, too, was caught up in the “partygate” scandal. The Guido Fawkes website reported Friday that Case’s department held two parties in December 2020. Johnson tapped a former senior government ethics adviser to take over the inquiry.  The idea that politicians and civil servants in London were partying when lockdown rules separated citizens from loved ones has angered the British public.