Cocaine traces reportedly found at UK gov’t estate where then-FM Truss held parties
Guardian says parties took place last summer for Truss’s associates, reports that white powder was also spotted by cleaners after bashes held by Johnson staff
Traces of cocaine have been found at a government estate in England where former UK prime minister Liz Truss hosted parties for political allies, according to a Friday report.
Staff told The Guardian that they tested a white powder found at the Chevening estate last summer, using a swab that changes color when cocaine is identified. The incidents occurred while Truss served as foreign minister under then-prime minister Boris Johnson.
Truss initially declined detailed comment on the report, though a spokesperson for Truss called it “categorically untrue,” the Guardian said. After the article appeared Friday, it said, her spokesperson stated: “If there were evidence that this alleged activity had occurred during her use of Chevening, Ms Truss would have expected to have been informed and for the relevant authorities to have properly investigated the matter. As it is, the Guardian has produced no evidence to support these spurious claims.”
The British daily cited additional sources who said that similar traces were found in the offices of staff at No. 10 Downing Street after parties were held during COVID lockdowns throughout Johnson’s tenure as premier.
Chevening staff told The Guardian that they noticed the white powder on one of the tables in the estate’s billiard table room after two separate parties hosted by then-foreign minister Truss at the estate’s Kent house in August and September.
A range of Truss’s political allies attended each of the weekend parties, The Guardian said, not specifying Truss’s whereabouts at the parties but insisting that there was no insinuation that the then-foreign minister had herself used cocaine. “There is no suggestion that Truss or Johnson themselves used the drug or that they would have been aware if drugs were used or present,” it reported.
The Guardian said it did not know who had been using the illegal substance.
Chevening is known as a “grace-and-favor” home often used by foreign secretaries and their associates.
The Friday report was the latest development in what has been known in the UK as “partygate.”
Civil service investigator Sue Gray described alcohol-fueled bashes held by Downing Street staff members in 2020 and 2021 when pandemic restrictions prevented UK residents from socializing or even visiting dying relatives.
Partygate threatened to end Johnson’s already short tenure as premier, though he managed to weather the storm until September, when the compounding of various scandals led to mass resignations of his own cabinet, prompting him to step down. He was replaced by Truss, though she only lasted in the job for 45 days.
Gray’s report did not mention the cocaine use.
Sources told The Guardian that Downing cleaning staff found white powder at offices of Johnson’s staff after a party was held on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.
White powder deposits were also found in bathrooms along with small plastic bags, blood and vomit-stained tissues that were picked up next to a trash bin. On a nearby table, cleaning staff picked up a Boots Advantage card and noticed a smudged line of powder next to it.
Johnson was not believed to have been present at the Downing parties where cocaine was believed to have been used.
Truss and the UK Foreign Office declined The Guardian’s request to comment on the report.
A spokesperson for Johnson said the former prime minister “is surprised by these allegations since he has not previously been made aware of any suggestions of drug use in 10 Downing Street and as far as he is aware no such claims were made to Sue Gray or to any other investigators.”
A spokesperson for No. 10 said, “The Guardian has provided no evidence to support these claims. If there were substantive claims, we would expect these to be reported to the police.”
