Boris Johnson Holds Lavish Party At Tory Donor’s Estate To Celebrate His Wedding

Posted on 31/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie have celebrated the first anniversary of their wedding with a lavish party in the grounds of a multi-millionaire Tory donor.

A giant white marquee was erected at 18th-century Daylesford House in the Cotswolds, which is owned by Lord Bamford, to host the celebrations.

The outgoing prime minister’s supporters, including Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg, were rewarded for their loyalty with invitations to the big-money bash.

Johnson’s 81-year-old father Stanley and his sister Rachel were also in attendance, as was Australian actor Holly Valance.

Other political allies joining the festivities included Tory peer Lord Goldsmith and former cabinet minister John Whittingdale.

Liz Truss, who is favourite to succeed Johnson as PM, was unable to attend due to the Tory leadership campaign.

Speaking in Bromley, Kent, she defended his decision to hold the party at a time when so many people in the country are struggling with the cost of living crisis.

She said: “I think he’s entitled to enjoy his wedding day, and I wish the best to him and Carrie and all the family.”

Stanley Johnson arrives at Daylesford House.

Guests were able to relax on hay bales and benches placed outside the marquee and eat and drink at casks and small tables as they enjoyed views across vast meadows and orchards.

The Johnsons had originally been planning to throw their wedding party at the Prime Minister’s official country residence, Chequers, in Buckinghamshire.

But that plan was ditched following a huge political backlash.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and wife Carrie arriving for the official welcome ceremony during the G7 summit in Schloss Elmau, in the Bavarian Alps, Germany. Picture date: Sunday June 26, 2022.

The couple married in a low-key private ceremony at Westminster Cathedral last year, organised in secret, in front of a small group of family and friends.

This was followed by a reception in the gardens of 10 Downing Street with a limited number of guests due to coronavirus restrictions.

It is understood that billionaire Lord Bamford, chairman of construction equipment manufacturer JCB, is covering at least some of the cost of the party.

It is not the first time Johnson has benefited from his generosity.

The Tory peer supported his 2019 leadership bid, with the PM knocking down a wall with a JCB digger at the firm’s Staffordshire factory in a stunt to demonstrate he could “get Brexit done”.

Lord Bamford’s wife, Lady Carole Bamford, set up the upmarket Daylesford Organic Farm, with a chain of shops selling its produce across London.

Johnson reportedly received food from the Daylesford farm shop worth an estimated £12,500 during the pandemic, though Downing Street said he paid for the cost of all food for “personal consumption”.

When asked about the wedding celebrations, No 10 declined to comment on the “private matter”.

Boris Johnson Defends Meeting Ex-KGB Agent Alexander Lebedev Without Officials Present

Posted on 26/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Boris Johnson has defended meeting a former KGB agent at an Italian villa without any government officials present.

The prime minister said no official business was discussed “as far as I am aware” when he met Alexander Lebedev in 2018, when he was foreign secretary.

Johnson admitted the meeting took place while appearing in front of the liaison committee earlier this month.

In a letter to Sir Bernard Jenkin, the committee’s chairman, giving more details on the visit, he said he had been attending a “social event” organised by Evgeny Lebedev at his home in Italy.

At the time, the Lebedevs owned the Evening Standard and the Independent newspapers.

The PM said: “At this social event, I also met Evgeny Lebedev’s father. This was not a formal meeting, nor something that was pre-arranged.”

He said his officials were “aware in advance” about the event and it was not unusual for them not to accompany him.

He said: “Contrary to some reports, my visit was in line with established security protocols under successive foreign secretaries.

“It would not have been normal practice for civil servants or security staff to have accompanied me to such a private, social occasion. I did not take ministerial papers with me.”

Johnson said if ministers discuss official business with an external organisation or individual without any officials present, they would be expected to inform them afterwards.

“This was not necessary in this case,” he said. “As far as I am aware, no government business was discussed.”

Johnson has also faced accusations that he ignored security concerns to give Evgeny Lebedev a peerage.

Asked about the allegations in March, he said: “That is simply incorrect. But what I can tell you is, it suits Putin’s agenda to try to characterise this as a struggle between the West and Russia.

“It suits his agenda to say that the UK, that we in Nato countries, are anti-Russia, European countries are now anti-Russian.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “Keeping the British people safe should be a priority of government, but this web of murky relationships shows the Conservatives cannot be trusted with our national security.”

Boris Johnson Says Voters Were Right To ‘Trust’ Him In 2,584 Word Goodbye Essay

Posted on 21/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Boris Johnson has said he is “proud” of his time as prime minister and that people were right to “trust” him when they voted Conservative in 2019.

In a 2,584 word written statement to parliament published on Thursday, Johnson listed what he saw as his achievements in office over the last three years.

Parliament breaks for its summer recess and when it returns Johnson is due to have been replaced as Tory leader.

Unless there is an emergency during August, the statement is likely to be his last to parliament as prime minister.

“I am proud of our record in office since 2019. I remain determined that we continue to deliver in our final weeks,” he said.

“I know that the Conservative government that follows after us will do what its predecessors have always done and meet the challenges of the day by serving the British people.”

Johnson said his government had “focused relentlessly on delivery” and that the lengthy defence “puts on record why the millions of people who voted Conservative in 2019, many for the first time, were right to place their trust in me”.

The prime minister was removed as Tory leader largely because his own MPs and cabinet said they could no longer trust him.

The PM’s list of achievements, as seen by him, include having “got Brexit done” and having successfully “guided the country” through Covid.

He said his government had “acted on every front” when it came to “bringing down crime, strengthening our health system, sorting out social care and improving our schools”.

Theresa May Stages Silent Protest Against Boris Johnson As He Leaves His Final PMQs

Posted on 20/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Theresa May suggested there was no love lost between her and Boris Johnson on Wednesday when she refused to clap him while he left the Commons.

While almost every Tory MP stood, clapped and cheered as Johnson left the despatch box for his final time as PM, one among them stood out.

Footage from ITV’s Shehab Khan showed that May stayed sitting, even looking the other way as Johnson departed.

After a few seconds, she did stand, and stared after Johnson. Once the benches around her started whistling, she folded her arms and looked on after the prime minister.

May was actually forced out of Downing Street by her own party, much like Johnson, but the two have come to blows in the past.

She appointed him as her foreign secretary back in 2018, although they clashed over Brexit as Johnson repeatedly tried to make her take a more hardline approach with the EU.

May wasn’t the only person who held back from applauding Johnson upon his exit – Labour refused to clap at all.

Sadiq Khan Accuses Tory Leadership Candidates Of ‘Ignoring’ Climate Change

Posted on 19/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Sadiq Khan today accused the Tory leadership candidates of “ignoring” climate change as Britain sizzles in record temperatures.

The mayor of London said the country needed a “brave generation of politicians” in parliament, in an interview with HuffPost UK.

“This heatwave is directly linked with the consequences of climate change,” Khan said as the UK hit its hottest temperature on record of 40.2C at Heathrow.

“So rather than tiptoeing around this issue and ignoring it, as those running to be the Tory leader have done, we should be talking about it more with a sense of urgency.”

The criticism falls as the Tory leadership debate has focused on tax cuts and culture war issues, rather than the climate.

Cabinet minister Alok Sharma, who led last year’s landmark Cop26 UN climate summit, intervened in the Tory leadership race, suggesting to The Observer he might resign if the incoming PM fails to commit to a strong agenda on the climate crisis.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan with Rosamund adoo-kissi-debrah, CEO of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation.

Meanwhile, Conservative MP Chris Skidmore has suggested Tory party members care little about hitting “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050 “because 90 per cent of them will be dead”.

Skidmore admitted a survey which put the climate emergency at the bottom of the list for the people who will choose the next prime minister is “rather depressing” in the Independent.

Leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch has previously branded the 2050 net zero commitment “unilateral economic disarmament” and vowed to axe it if elected.

At a hustings event on Monday she appeared to reverse her view before performing another U-turn on TalkTV that evening suggesting there were “circumstances” she would delay it. The three other remaining leadership candidates have all backed net zero.

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose daughter Ella was nine years old when she suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2013 linked to severe air pollution, has also criticised Conservative leadership hopefuls for dismissing green issues.

Khan added: “I break down politicians into three areas: climate change deniers, climate change delayers and climate change doers.

“And this heatwave should make us all want to be climate change doers, rather than delayers or deniers.”

He added: “This heatwave, caused by climate change, should be a wake up call for all of us – including those running to be the leader of the Conservative Party.

“It’s heartbreaking, in my view, to see the Tories being in denial about this issue.

“I mean, just to think about one of the candidates talking about 2060, 2070, the other candidates being lukewarm at best about the issue of tackling climate change. That is not the sort of leadership we need.”

He added: “It was Conservative politicians in the 1950s during the Great Smog who made the brave decision to close down power stations in the centre of our cities – think of Battersea Power station, think of the Tate Modern, because then you could see the poison.

“The problem is you can’t see the invisible killer, but you can feel the heat.

“What we want to see is a brave generation of politicians in parliament now, tackling climate change and air quality.”

The mayor made the comments as he hosted a climate solutions summit in London’s City Hall.

A woman use portable fan as heatwave hits London, United Kingdom on July 18, 2022.

Transport for London released figures that show the expansion of Khan’s ultra-low emission zone appears to have reduced toxic air levels in the suburbs.

They found that roadside levels of nitrogen dioxide in central London were now 44 per cent lower than they would have been had the Ulez not been introduced.

However, the Evening Standard suggested the bulk of the benefits were attributable to the original central London zone which launched in April 2019.

Boris Johnson’s Account Of Partygate Was ‘More Fictional Than Reality’ – Tom Tugendhat

Posted on 17/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Tom Tugendhat today said Boris Johnson’s account of partygate was “more fictional than reality”.

The Tory leadership hopeful skewered the prime minister over his account of the scandal that led to the downfall of his administration.

However, the MP for Tonbridge and Malling dodged a question about whether he would serve in the cabinet of a prime minister who had broken the law.

In the first TV debate on Friday night, Tugendhat received a round of applause when he flatly said Johnson was not an honest man.

It set him apart from his rivals who were unable to give a straight verdict on the prime minister’s integrity.

Asked what Johnson had been dishonest about on the BBC’s Sunday Morning show, Tugendhat said: “We wouldn’t have been having that debate on Friday night had the others not agreed with me.

“We know very well the others agree with me because otherwise they wouldn’t have resigned from his government, they wouldn’t be standing as leadership candidates.”

Pressed on what Johnson had been dishonest about, Tugendhat replied: “It’s perfectly clear that the alignment of stories that he came to on the partygate scandal seems to have been rather more fictional than reality.”

Asked if he would work for a prime minister who broke the law, Tugendhat said: “I’ve been very clear about my policies on all of this. I think that what we need to be doing is making sure that we bring about integrity into politics.

“And that’s why I’ve spoken about bringing back a ministerial standards commissioner.”

Pressed on the matter, Tugendhat suggested presenter Sophie Raworth was trying to “have a go” at Rishi Sunak who received a partygate fine.

Pushed again, he replied referring to the current prime minister: “Well, I haven’t worked for this one.”

His critics say Tugendhat cannot get the numbers to be PM and is instead in the running for a cabinet position in the next administration.

It comes after the government was accused of hiding how much taxpayers spent on legal advice for officials accused in the partygate scandal.

The Government Legal Department – an in-house legal organisation – has refused to even confirm or deny if their lawyers advised those being investigated by the police.

Meanwhile, Johnson has been told to hand over a huge number of documents including his diaries to MPs investigating whether he lied to parliament over partygate.

Tory MPs hope to have reduced the search for Johnson’s successor, due to be announced on September 5, to two possibilities in the coming days.

Monday will see the third round of voting with the aim of whittling down candidates to the final two by Thursday, before the summer recess.

The final two will then go forward to a postal ballot of party members.

Keir Starmer Urges Tory MPs To ‘Put Country First’ And Boot Boris Johnson Out Of No.10 Now

Posted on 12/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Keir Starmer has called on Tory MPs to back his bid to have Boris Johnson removed from No.10 immediately.

The prime minister is set to stay in post until the Conservatives elect a new leader in eight weeks’ time on September 5.

But Labour have tabled a motion of no confidence in the government which, if it was passed by the Commons, would see Johnson booted out of office straight away.

If the Conservatives were then unable to form a government under a different prime minister, a general election would be held.

Starmer said: “The Tory party has at last concluded that the prime minister is unfit for office, that was blindingly obvious a very, very long time ago. He is leaving because his own party has concluded that he can’t be trusted.

“They can’t now let him cling on for weeks, and weeks, and weeks until the 5th of September. It would be intolerable for the country.

“Since the Tories have failed to act in the national interest, Labour will. We have put down a vote of no confidence, and challenged any Tory MP who in the last few days has said ‘I can’t serve Boris Johnson because you can’t trust a word the man says’, ‘I can’t go on the media because the lines he gives us always unravel’.

“Can they really vote to say he should stay in power for another few weeks We’re challenging them to put their constituents first, and put the country first.”

If the government makes time for it to be debated, MPs will vote on the confidence motion tomorrow.

It is almost certain to be defeated because it will not be supported by Conservative MPs.

But a Labour source said: “It will put the squeeze on backbench Tories to either vote for him, and be hypocrites, or back Labour, admitting we were right.

“Do all those Tory leadership candidates really want to be answering that question next week? They know he needs to go.”

Chequers Chucked: Boris Johnson Won’t Hold Wedding Bash At Country Residence

Posted on 08/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Boris and Carrie Johnson will not hold their wedding party at the prime minister’s country residence, sources have told HuffPost UK.

The couple were reportedly ploughing on with plans for a bash at Chequers as Johnson shifts to a caretaker role in his final days in office.

However, they have now decided to move the party’s location following criticism of the plan.

The pair married in a low-key, private ceremony at Westminster Cathedral last year and planned to have a larger celebration in 2022, when coronavirus restrictions were likely to be relaxed.

The Johnsons were said to have sent save-the-date cards to family and friends for the celebration on July 30.

However, a Downing Street source told HuffPost UK there would be no wedding bash at Chequers.

The planned wedding party is instead being moved to a different location at the end of this month, sources told The Sun.

NEW: The planned Chequers wedding party is being moved to a different location at the end of this month. Source says the idea this has had any bearing on why the PM is staying on as caretaker is “frankly absurd” and where it happens doesn’t matter to them.

— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) July 8, 2022

The Evening Standard reported last month that the party would take the form of a “champagne-soaked soiree” to celebrate the couple’s first anniversary.

The Mirror said it was told by two separate sources that the pair were keen to go ahead with the celebrations.

On Friday morning a Cabinet minister suggested any new prime minister should let the couple have their wedding party at Chequers.

James Cleverly told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Private functions like that do not impose a burden on the public purse…

“I think it’s churlish to be negative about two people who want to celebrate their marriage and their love for each other.”

Boris And Carrie Johnson ‘Intend To Hold Chequers Wedding Party’ Before Departing

Posted on 07/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Boris and Carrie Johnson are reportedly ploughing on with plans for a wedding party at Chequers as the prime minister shifts to a caretaker role in his final days in office.

The pair married in a low-key, private ceremony at Westminster Cathedral last year.

A small group of family and friends attended the wedding, organised in strict secrecy, which was followed by a reception in the gardens of 10 Downing Street.

It was known the Johnsons planned to have a larger celebration in 2022, when coronavirus restrictions were likely to be relaxed.

They were said to have sent save-the-date cards to family and friends for the celebration on July 30.

The Evening Standard reported last month that this would take the form of a “champagne-soaked soiree” at the PM’s country residence to celebrate the couple’s first anniversary.

It has now been suggested that Johnson wanted to stay on as a caretaker prime minister in part to see this through – although this claim was denied by Downing Street.

The Mirror said it was told by two separate sources that the pair were keen to go ahead with the celebrations.

One Tory source said: “It beggars belief that even after all the criticism Johnson has faced regarding integrity and probity, one of the reasons he is staying is to have his wedding party at Chequers.

“It’s a national asset not his personal home. The Johnsons should do the decent thing and find a different venue. And Boris should do the decent thing and leave No 10 immediately”.

A second insider told the paper: “It’s crass if it goes ahead.”

But a spokesman for Johnson said: “The PM has a strong sense of duty and will continue to serve his country until a new leader is in place solely to continue his obligation to the public.”

It comes after the outgoing PM appeared to slip up in his resignation speech at Downing Street, thanking the “wonderful staff here at Chequers”, before quickly correcting himself to say “here at No 10”.

“And of course at Chequers,” he added.

Boris Johnson Resigns From ‘The Best Job In The World’

Posted on 07/07/2022 by Boris Clair

Boris Johnson said he was “giving up the best job in the world” as he announced he was resigning as prime minister.

The outgoing premier also spoke of the “pain” he felt at having been forced out by his MPs.

He said it was “clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister” and that the leadership contest to choose his successor had now begun.

Speaking directly to the British public on the steps of 10 Downing Street, he said: “I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, but them’s the breaks.”

Johnson was applauded by around 30 supportive MPs, as well as his wife Carrie and Downing Street aides as he made his way from the front door of No. 10 to the lectern in the street outside.

In an at-times graceless speech, Johnson made clear his anger at being dumped by his own party less than three years after winning an 80-seat majority.

He said: “In the last few days, I tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much and when we have such a vast mandate and when we’re actually only a handful of points behind in the polls, even in mid-term after quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally.

“I regret not to have been successful in those arguments and of course it’s painful not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.

“But as we’ve seen, at Westminster the herd instinct is powerful, when the herd moves, it moves.

“And my friends in politics, no one is remotely indispensable and our brilliant and Darwinian system will produce another leader, equally committed to taking this country forward through tough times.”

He added: “I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time, thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979.

“And the reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue to deliver that mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.

“And of course, I’m immensely proud of the achievements of this government.”

The PM went on: “I know that even if things can seem dark now, our future together is golden.”

The prime minister also confirmed he plans to stay in office until a new leader is elected, which may not be until the autumn.

Despite Johnson’s insistence that he will stay on until a new leader is in place, angry Tory MPs have demanded he go straight away, a move which would likely see deputy PM Dominic Raab take the reins until a new leader is in place.

North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen told HuffPost UK: “He’s lost the confidence of the party and he’s lost legitimacy to stay in office – leave means leave.

“If he stays we will be mired in further scandal and sleaze allegations throughout the summer, which will distract from government and the leadership election.

“It’s all about Boris Johnson – it’s not about the the party or the country. He’s not fit to remain in office a moment longer.”

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