A former Boris Johnson prime ministerial aide who was dubbed “Party Marty” after arranging a bring-your-own-booze backyard celebration in Downing Road throughout Covid restrictions has acquired an honour at Windsor Fortress for public service.
Martin Reynolds, Johnson’s former principal non-public secretary, was made a companion of the Order of the Bathtub at a ceremony led by the Princess Royal.
Reynolds was included in Johnson’s resignation honours checklist introduced in June 2023.
In Might 2020 Reynolds had despatched an invitation throughout lockdown to about 200 No 10 employees inviting them to benefit from the “lovely weather” with some “socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden this evening”, including: “Please join us from 6pm and bring your own booze!” Quite a lot of individuals have been later fined for attending the occasion in breach of lockdown guidelines.
The Covid-19 Bereaved Households for Justice (CBFFJ) marketing campaign group has known as the honour an insult to the recollections of those that died, saying Reynolds had “failed in serving the public” and that his “mistakes should cost him this honour”.
Showing earlier than the UK Covid-19 inquiry in October 2023, Reynolds apologised “unreservedly” when requested concerning the celebration, saying he was “deeply sorry” for “my part in those events and for the email message which went out that day”.
He stated as a result of information of the celebration didn’t emerge till “about 15 months later”, he didn’t consider it had a serious affect on the general public in the course of the pandemic on the time. “So while I totally accept I was totally wrong in the way I sent the email around and for the event, I think the impact on public confidence – although obviously now in terms of public confidence more generally it did have a serious impact – in terms of the pandemic at that time it … had less impact,” he informed the inquiry.
The CBFFJ stated: “The fact that Martin Reynolds is being given an honour for public service having invited staff to a bring your own booze party in No 10 during lockdown is an insult to the memories of those who died because the government failed to protect them, to all who died and grieved alone during lockdown, and to every key worker who sacrificed so much to keep people safe in the absence of a government capable of handling the crisis of Covid-19.”
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Others introduced with honours included the previous Conservative deputy prime ministers Thérèse Coffey and Oliver Dowden, each for political and public service, having been named in Rishi Sunak’s dissolution honours checklist in July.
On receiving the honour, Coffey stated: “I am proud of doing my best to try to help the environment and helping people get through Covid. We have tried to put the public first in everything we do, much like the royal family.”
