Number 10 has stressed that Christmas parties should not be cancelled and there are no rules limiting their size after conflicting comments from ministers and officials in recent days.

MPs have given up second jobs worth more than £250,000 per year in the wake of Westminster's sleaze row.

Voters are casting their ballots in a by-election sparked by the death of a former cabinet minister.

The Cabinet Office has been fined half a million pounds for mistakenly publishing addresses of New Year Honours recipients - including Sir Elton John and senior police officers.

A number of parties were held in Downing Street in the run-up to Christmas last year while indoor mixing was banned in London under COVID restrictions, Sky News understands.