diff --git a/src/govuk/components/error-summary/_index.scss b/src/govuk/components/error-summary/_index.scss
index 34e7aa8688..896e5df8c4 100644
--- a/src/govuk/components/error-summary/_index.scss
+++ b/src/govuk/components/error-summary/_index.scss
@@ -20,13 +20,11 @@
     @include govuk-responsive-margin(4, "bottom");
   }
 
-  .govuk-error-summary__body {
+  .govuk-error-summary__body,
+  .govuk-error-summary__body p {
     @include govuk-font($size: 19);
-
-    p {
-      margin-top: 0;
-      @include govuk-responsive-margin(4, "bottom");
-    }
+    @include govuk-responsive-margin(4, "bottom");
+    margin-top: 0;
   }
 
   // Cross-component class - adjusts styling of list component
diff --git a/src/govuk/components/error-summary/template.njk b/src/govuk/components/error-summary/template.njk
index 0f9ec2f941..d7b950c3fd 100644
--- a/src/govuk/components/error-summary/template.njk
+++ b/src/govuk/components/error-summary/template.njk
@@ -5,13 +5,12 @@
   <h2 class="govuk-error-summary__title">
     {{ params.titleHtml | safe if params.titleHtml else params.titleText }}
   </h2>
-  <div class="govuk-error-summary__body">
-    {% if params.descriptionHtml or params.descriptionText %}
-    <p>
+  {% if params.descriptionHtml or params.descriptionText %}
+    <p class="govuk-error-summary__body">
       {{ params.descriptionHtml | safe if params.descriptionHtml else params.descriptionText }}
     </p>
-    {% endif %}
-    <ul class="govuk-list govuk-error-summary__list">
+  {% endif %}
+  <ul class="govuk-list govuk-error-summary__list">
     {% for item in params.errorList %}
       <li>
       {% if item.href %}
@@ -21,6 +20,5 @@
       {% endif %}
       </li>
     {% endfor %}
-    </ul>
-  </div>
+  </ul>
 </div>
diff --git a/src/govuk/components/error-summary/template.test.js b/src/govuk/components/error-summary/template.test.js
index 5d05fdac79..1d738d355a 100644
--- a/src/govuk/components/error-summary/template.test.js
+++ b/src/govuk/components/error-summary/template.test.js
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ describe('Error-summary', () => {
 
     it('renders description text', () => {
       const $ = render('error-summary', examples.description)
-      const summaryDescription = $('.govuk-error-summary__body p').text().trim()
+      const summaryDescription = $('.govuk-error-summary__body').text().trim()
 
       expect(summaryDescription).toEqual('Lorem ipsum')
     })
@@ -72,14 +72,14 @@ describe('Error-summary', () => {
     it('allows description text to be passed whilst escaping HTML entities', () => {
       const $ = render('error-summary', examples['html as descriptionText'])
 
-      const summaryDescription = $('.govuk-error-summary__body p').html().trim()
+      const summaryDescription = $('.govuk-error-summary__body').html().trim()
       expect(summaryDescription).toEqual('See errors below (&#x25BC;)')
     })
 
     it('allows description HTML to be passed un-escaped', () => {
       const $ = render('error-summary', examples['description html'])
 
-      const summaryDescription = $('.govuk-error-summary__body p').html().trim()
+      const summaryDescription = $('.govuk-error-summary__body').html().trim()
       expect(summaryDescription).toEqual('See <span>errors</span> below')
     })