Britain’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid has leapt to the defence of Carrie Johnson, the prime minister’s wife, denouncing “sexist” attacks on her.
Mr Javid defended Mrs Johnson, who previously worked as his special adviser, after Lord Ashcroft suggested in his new biography that Boris Johnson was being held back as leader of the country by the actions of his spouse.
The Conservative peer wrote that her “behaviour is preventing him (Mr Johnson) from leading Britain as effectively as the voters deserve”.
During an interview on Sky News, Mr Javid denied that Mrs Johnson could have encouraged her husband to break lockdown rules in Downing Street.
Asked what he would say to Lord Ashcroft and the prime minister’s ex-adviser Dominic Cummings, who has also criticised Mrs Johnson, Mr Javid said spouses should be “off limits”.
“I would just say that if you want to talk about Number 10, these issues, by all means please do so, but focus on the prime minister,” he said.
“I actually do think there’s a sexism involved in this, I really do.
“And I just think doing this, in this case going after Carrie Johnson, it’s undignified, it’s unfair and it’s just wrong.
“By all means go after the politicians, but why their wives, their husbands or their partners?”
Asked if the comments amounted to misogyny, he said: “Yes, yes it is sexist”.
After Lord Ashcroft’s biography was serialised in the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, Mrs Johnson put out a stern statement defending herself.
A representative of the mother of two, who served as an adviser to Mr Javid while he was business secretary, said the comments were “just the latest attempt by bitter ex-officials to discredit her”.
“Yet again Mrs Johnson has been targeted by a brutal briefing campaign against her by enemies of her husband,” the spokeswoman said.
The representative said the prime minister’s wife is a “private individual who plays no role in government”.
Mr Cummings, the prime minister's former chief aide, has made clear he was no fan of Mrs Johnson, and said she had wanted to “get rid” of him from No 10.
He alleged she was at one point “trying to change a whole bunch of different appointments at Number 10 and appoint her friends to particular jobs”.
The furore over the comments comes as Mr Johnson starts a new week with a fresh team of advisers in Downing Street.
Five members of his inner circle stepped down last week as the “partygate” saga reached new heights. The dramatic string of resignations came after senior civil servant Sue Gray blamed a “failure of leadership” in Number 10 for allowing a party culture during lockdown.
The prime minister swiftly ushered in replacements for those who walked out and sought to put a light-hearted spin on things by using a quote from The Lion King in a pep talk to aides, saying “change is good”.
He made major changes at the weekend, appointing Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay as his new chief of staff and journalist and long-time ally Guto Harri as his head of communications.
The Times reported that No 10 was hoping to announce the return of Dame Emily Lawson as the new permanent secretary this week.
Ms Lawson, who currently runs NHS England’s vaccination programme, was seconded to Downing Street’s delivery unit — a team in charge of ensuring the Government delivers on its policies — in April last year before returning to the health service in October.
Speaking on Sunday, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said Mr Johnson “has been very clear that he wants a reset in No 10".
“He was very clear speaking to Conservative MPs on Monday and what we saw last week was him following through with that commitment,” he said.
Mr Johnson is awaiting the outcome of a police investigation into allegations of parties and is also facing a potential leadership bid. Last week more Conservative MPs were reported to have submitted letters of no confidence in the prime minister.
