Johnson was forced to step down in mid-2022 after support for him evaporated over the “partygate” scandal. He was fined by the police for attending a party in 2020 during the country’s COVID-19 lockdown, becoming the first serving UK prime minister in history to break the law. Revelations of him and his employees reveling in booze-fueled parties in 2020 and 2021 at Downing Street infuriated the British public.
COVID-19 killed more than 230,000 people in the UK, one of the highest death tolls in Europe.
The COVID-19 inquiry is chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, a former Court of Appeal judge. The inquiry is split into four areas: resilience and preparedness; core UK decision making and political governance; the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare systems; vaccines, therapeutics and antiviral treatment.
Hallett said she intends to publish the report on the first area of work by early summer 2024.