UK Cabinet Secretary Simon Case will head an inquiry into an alleged Christmas party and two prior gatherings involving government officials that were held at Downing Street in violation of COVID-19 protocols at the peak of the pandemic last year.

Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis laid out the terms of reference for the inquiry Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered on Wednesday. At the December 18, 2020, event at the prime minister’s 10 Downing St. offices, officials are said to have enjoyed wine, food, games and a festive gift exchange at a time when most social gatherings were banned under Tier 3 restrictions in London.

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A leaked video showed senior staff members joking about the alleged Christmas party, with Allegra Stratton, one of Johnson’s advisers, on Wednesday resigning from her post and offering her “profound apologies.”

Case will also look into a gathering allegedly held at Downing Street on November 27, 2020, and another at the Department for Education on December 10.

The PM’s official spokesperson had earlier said Case’s investigation would only focus on the December 18 events, noting “this will be an independent process looking at allegations made on that day in Number 10.”

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In September last year, Case was appointed as the youngest-ever cabinet secretary and head of the civil service. He joined the civil service in 2006 as a policy adviser for the Ministry of Defence, and served in the Cabinet Office, Northern Ireland Office, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the Olympic Secretariat.

He later returned to Number 10 to work on early Brexit negotiations and also help with the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Case has been under the scanner for his alleged involvement in the Downing Street flat refurbishment scandal regarding the alleged lavish overhaul of the flat above 11 Downing Street by Johnson and his then-fiancée Carrie.

He has also faced flak for the sluggish probe into the so-called ‘chatty rat’ inquiry which was ordered after details of England’s second COVID lockdown emerged in the media before a formal announcement by the government.