A CONSERVATIVE MP watched his father-in-law’s funeral online during the period No10 allegedly hosted a series of parties.

Stephen Metcalfe, MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, says his family will take a long time to get over their anger.

However, he stopped short of calling for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign.

Mr Metcalfe’s father-in-law died in June due to a bleed on the brain but due to Covid restrictions in place at the time, the family was forced to watch the funeral online.

The MP said: “When the reports began to come to light it brought back the pain the family was feeling at the time of his sad death.

“My daughter is a frontline nurse and is very angry about what’s been reported.”

Mr Metcalfe said it was important to wait for the full facts, adding: “We don’t know the details yet and I want to wait before I comment but lots of people are rightly angry about it.

“My family may be angry until we know the full information about what has happened.

“There’s no doubt the Prime Minister sets the rules and should be seen to stick to them but it seems this did not happen.”

He said the reports of parties has caused lots of anger in his family and that it was especially difficult for his wife and children to not be able to attend the funeral of their relative.

It comes as Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said controversy over Downing Street parties has damaged public trust in the government, but Boris Johnson has his “full support”.

Mr Metcalfe added: “I am disappointed with the Sue Gray report and it’s not what was I was hoping for. I want to see the police conduct their investigation as quickly as possible.

“My constituents are also very angry about the reported gatherings and parties and rightly so, there’s some support for Boris but the vast majority are not happy.

“We do not know what involved or to what extend Boris attended or joined in with these gatherings yet.

“We’ve got to know the context and I know people want to see the Prime Minister leave but I really do need far more information about the allegations.”

He said due to the Covid lockdown rules his family decided it was wrong to travel to Cornwall for the funeral and chose to stay home.