A TORY cabinet minister has downplayed claims that Sue Gray was pressured into diluting her partygate report by Downing Street officials on the eve of publication.

Former party chair Brandon Lewis said he had “absolute confidence” that the Whitehall troubleshooter was happy with the final report she published last week.

It followed the Sunday Times reporting that Ms Gray was lobbied to remove names from the final 37-page document and had edits made before its release on Wednesday.

It said she dared ministers to issue her with an explicit direction to make changes, and that they backed away, but that the names of some wrongdoers and other details were still removed.  

Partial drafts of her findings were reportedly circulating in No 10 on Tuesday.

The newspaper said “tweaks” were made on the eve of publication by MP Steve Barclay, the chief of staff in No 10, in relation to the so-called “Abba party” held in the Prime Minister’s flat on November 13 2020.

Mr Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said he did not “recognise” the reports and argued that it would have been fruitless for Downing Street to seek to influence her findings.

Asked on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme whether he could vouch that pressure was not placed on Ms Gray, he said: “I’m absolutely confident that’s the case.

“Anybody who has worked in No 10 knows Sue Gray well enough that that kind of thing wouldn’t work.

“And I’m confident, particularly now that No 10 have outrightly made the point and denied that this happened, that Sue Gray had the freedom to write the report that she was comfortable to write and publish.”

He expressed similar personal  confidence later on BBC’S Sunday Show, but did not give a categorical denial that it had happened.

Ms Gray’s report detailed drunken leaving-dos held in Downing Street and Whitehall during the pandemic lockdown, with Mr Johnson joining in the drinking and giving speeches while the rest of the country was forbidden from seeing sick and dying loved ones.

In relation to the gathering in the flat that Mr Johnson shares with his wife Carrie, it is alleged that an earlier draft of Ms Gray’s report referred to music being played and stated at what time the gathering ended, but that the information was redacted.

No 10 and the Cabinet Office have denied any edits were made by Mr Barclay.

Ms Gray found the Prime Minister - who is facing growing calls from Conservative MPs to resign over his handling of partygate - attended a November gathering in his flat along with five special advisers, with “food and alcohol available”.

The civil servant explained in her findings that she halted her work, having only collected “limited” information, when the Metropolitan Police began their investigation and opted against resuming her inquiries once Scotland Yard concluded their probe.

The Winner Takes It All and other Abba songs were reportedly heard blaring from the flat after the departure of Dominic Cummings, the PM’s chief adviser, that day after a bitter power struggle, but this was not in the report.

Mr Lewis pointed to No 10’s denials about the allegations of interference in the final report. 

He said the police had looked into the November gathering in the Johnsons’ Downing Street home and “didn’t see anything there that required anybody to be fined” – unlike the Prime Minister’s surprise birthday bash in June 2020 for which he, his wife and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were given with £50 fixed-penalty notices.

Other parties called for “full transparency” over reports Ms Gray’s findings were doctored.

The Liberal Democrats said all correspondence between No 10 and Ms Gray should be released and be reviewed by the Commons Privileges Committee as part of its investigation into whether Mr Johnson misled Parliament with his Partygate denials.

MP Daisy Cooper said: “Brandon Lewis’s half-hearted denial that Downing Street tried to water down the Sue Gray report simply isn’t good enough.

“The only way to get to the truth is to make public any correspondence between Downing Street and Sue Gray over her report.”

The accusations came as the number of Tory MPs to make a public call for Mr Johnson to resign continued to tick slowly upwards.

Former health minister Steve Brine and Anne Marie Morris became the latest to demand a confidence vote in the PM, joining at least 20 of their colleagues in doing so.

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, is obliged to order a confidence vote if he receives 54 letters demanding one.

Mr Lewis said he thought the Prime Minister would survive a confidence test, which he argued was not in the country or the party’s interest.

He also argued that Mr Johnson’s position as leader would not be in jeopardy if the Tories lost the ‘red wall’ Wakefield and ‘blue wall’ Tiverton and Honiton by-elections next month.

Asked about YouGov modelling suggesting the Tories would lose 85 of 88 battleground seats, including many 2019 Red Wall gains, if an election was held on current polling numbers, he said there was “not a general election in the next few months” to consider.

He said: “It could well be a fair way away. The work we do as parliamentarians, as campaigners can make a very big difference, and I still think we will win the next general election.”