From Christmas office parties during lockdowns, to misadventures in park bushes, to missing MPs. What scandals have hit the papers at the most wonderful time of the year?
How the mock press conference stole Christmas
The most well-known Christmas upset in recent years has to be the Partygate scandal. In December 2021, ITV released a video of then-Downing Street press secretary, Allegra Stratton, referring to a Downing Street Christmas party during a mock press conference. In late 2020, at the time of the video’s recording, the COVID pandemic was at its peak- with Christmas 2020 being effectively cancelled due to social distancing measures.
The revelations continued, with party after party being uncovered. Or at least just non-socially distanced cheese and wine. The media fiasco continued to escalate as the government collapsed into a bumbling pile of Downing Street vomit. Boris Johnson’s imitation of a modern pandemic-stricken Winston Churchill had officially fallen short, slapped with a £50 fine and a vote of no confidence. Johnson eventually fled Downing Street in the summer of 2022, his legacy in tatters all over some cheese and wine.
All I want for Christmas
Back in December 1958, the cold winter temperatures didn’t stop Tory Minister Ian Harvey from taking his 19-year-old lover Anthony into the bushes of St James Park.
The romantic scenes were interrupted by policemen. The policemen didn’t take too kindly to the bush occupants and swiftly arrested them on gross indecency. During the chaos of the arrest, Harvey attempted to flee the scene; leaving behind his teenage lover. His fugitive days were sadly cut short before they began, as he was promptly recaptured and took to the police station. Both men were charged £5 each but Ian Harvey faced further consequences.
Prior to the scandal Ian Harvey disguised himself in a House Select Committee that recommended “draconian punishments for practicing homosexuals in the armed forces.”
Good thing Mr. Harvey was only in St James Park
After the scandal hit the papers and public domain, Ian Harvey was forced to resign as an MP, triggering a by-election. Thankfully, times have changed, and LGBTQ people can serve in the government without fear of being arrested and ousted.
A Christmas miracle?
On Christmas Eve 1974, the Labour MP John Stonehouse was arrested in Melbourne. This was even more bizarre considering Stonehouse had been presumed to be dead after apparently drowning at sea in Miami. Very much alive, Stonehouse fled to Australia, using the name “Clive Mildoon” to transfer money through banks. Stonehouse planned to begin anew life in Australia with his mistress away from politics.
Stonehouse was extradited to the UK and was remanded in prison for ten months upon his return. He remained an MP before his trial and called this strange episode a “mental breakdown” in the House of Commons. Stonehouse was charged with fraud, theft, forgery, conspiracy to defraud, causing a false police investigation and wasting police time. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison.
As well as this, Stonehouse was suspected of being a Czechoslovak secret service agent. Historians are sure now, due to previously unattainable records from MI5, that Stonehouse whilst a minister was passing (rubbish) information to the Czechoslavak secret service.
