No 10 official (1) said that ahead of the event taking place they recalled seeking prior permission from senior officials to use the Cabinet Secretary’s offices for their drinks following speeches in the Cabinet Room.
The first part of the event
On 18 June 2020 over 25 people gathered for the first formal part of the leaving event with speeches which took place in the Cabinet Room, including No 10 official (1), Dominic Cummings and Simon Case, the Permanent Secretary for Covid and the Pandemic Response in No 10. It began, approximately, between 18.30 to 19.00 and finished before 19.40. Not all those who attended in person stayed for the entirety of this period. Others dialled into the event virtually by Zoom. Alcohol was available and Stuart Glassborow, Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, gave a speech.
The second part of the event
The second phase of the event took place from around 19.40 in the Waiting Room area outside the Cabinet Secretary s private office in 70 Whitehall and not all attendees from the first part attended the second part.
At around 19.40, at the conclusion of the event in the Cabinet Room a number of staff moved through from No 10 into 70 Whitehall using the link door between the two buildings. Those individuals went into the Cabinet Secretary s Waiting Room.
There was an exchange of messages on a No 10 Private Office WhatsApp group, which read:
[No 10 official (4)] [19:40] "Where is ever one?"
[No 10 official (4) ] [19:41] "The pizzas are here."
[No 10 official (1)] [19:43] "We’re moving to cab sec office"
[No 10 official (1)] [19:47] "We’re in outer office of cab sec with pizza"
The link door log shows that a number of officials from the No 10 Private Office went through the link door between 19.51 and 20.16 including Martin Reynolds and Stuart Glassborow. They joined the other members of the Private Office, including No 10 official (1), already in the waiting room. Some brought pizza and prosecco and they were followed by others, over the next couple of hours. Helen MacNamara, Deputy Cabinet Secretary, attended for part of the evening and provided a karaoke machine which was set up in an adjoining office to the waiting room.
