A glance at the European newspapers shows the backlash over the No. 10 Christmas party controversy isn’t confined to British soil.

As if needlessly leading us out of the single market in a disastrous fashion and into one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in Europe wasn’t bad enough, old ‘Grossmaul’s’ (big mouth), as the Germans like to call the prime minister, latest calamity has exasperated our European neighbours even more.

A public figure shunning rules is always going to evoke outcry – but even more so, when those eschewing the law are the same ones who set it.

Such is the scale of the anger and disbelief of the situation No. 10 has found itself in by holding a party when the rest of the country was in lockdown, denying one had taken place, then maintaining such denial despite a video acquired by ITV proving otherwise, that the scandal has rocked the media – and the public – on the continent.

Johnson’s ‘worse political storm’

In Spain, El Pais, the daily newspaper based in Madrid, ran several articles on the scandal. One ran with a headline: “Boris Johnson announces the birth of his daughter in the middle of his worse political storm.”

Another focused on Johnson’s apology to the British people, mocking the timing of the revelation, just as the government held its daily meeting to discuss the evolution of the omicron variant.

“Boris Johnson has only two hands, and every attempt to plug a new crisis is limited by the need to stem a loss of credibility, which is pouring out of him,” writes El Pais.

‘Party clowns’

Equally taunting is the French press. The daily Le Monde newspaper noted how the UK government is “very embarrassed”, by what it highlights as the “cheese and wine” video that has been watched by millions. The same article makes reference to the British dailies’ headlines on the affair, including “The Prime Minister accused of lying” and “No. 10 party clowns.”

Adding fuel to the humiliating representation of the current UK government in Le Monde newspaper, is a “Read Also” link below the Christmas party scandal article, which directs readers to an article published in November titled ‘Lobbying and corruption: Boris Johnson tries to regain control.’

The story focuses on the Owen Paterson scandal and how for the past ten days, “British opponents, commentators and political journalists have been wondering: would Boris Johnson’s lucky star be fading? The one that allowed him to come out of eighteen months of health crisis without too much damage in the polls and to maintain the cohesion of his Conservative Party…”

Germany has also been quick to report on the madness and mayhem currently engulfing the UK government. Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international broadcaster, alludes to the government’s lost credibility in the wake of the Christmas party scandal.

“The public outcry could also hamper the British government’s credibility as it potentially looks to impose new COVID-curbing restrictions — dubbed Plan B — in the run-up to the Christmas holidays,” writes DW.

Sentiment shared by the Dutch, whose largest daily newspaper, De Telegraaf, ran with the headline: “Boris Johnson cornered over Downing Street Christmas Party”

International contempt, scorn and disbelief of the latest scandal swamping the British is not restricted to Europe.

Across the Pond, much of the media seems even less forgiving in its assessment of the lockdown-flouted Christmas party controversy.

The Washington Post describes Britain’s “obsession” with a Christmas party.

“The story has become a scandal in part because it plays into assertions that Johnson and his government cannot be trusted and that there is one set of rules for the people and another for the rulers. The British take their very merry holiday parties very seriously, and it grates to learn that 10 Downing Street — the prime minister’s official residence and office, the British version of the White House — might have been whooping it up as the rest of the country was told to hunker down,” it writes.

The widespread derision in the international press about the UK government’s ‘one rule for them’ party scandal is shaping public perception of the British prime minister abroad.

Pedro Llorente, a postman in Andalucía, Spain, told LFF:

“I saw the story on TV here and I have to ask – Why do you [the British] comply with the regulations imposed by the government if they do the opposite? The UK needs a political change, to go back to Europe maybe, and have politicians who aren’t crazy.

“Boris Johnson should be sent on a flight into space with no return.”

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a freelance journalist and contributing editor to Left Foot Forward.

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