Boris Johnson was pictured beaming as he arrived back at 10 Downing Street today after his fiancée Carrie Symonds gave birth, while the Queen sent the couple a ‘private message of good wishes’ to congratulate them on their first child together.
Mr Johnson, who missed PMQs this afternoon, is said to have been by his 32-year-old fiancee’s side throughout the labour in the early hours of this morning and thanked ‘the fantastic NHS maternity team’ who brought their son into the world.
But as he scrambles to get a grip on the coronavirus crisis, the PM left Carrie in a London hospital and returned to Downing Street amid concerns that key decisions over the lockdown and how to ease Britain out of it could slip because of the new baby.
Mr Johnson also said in early March that he would probably take his two-week paternity leave when their child was born – but No 10 confirmed this afternoon he will delay his fortnight off until ‘later in the year’.
The safe arrival of their baby, Carrie’s first and officially Boris’s sixth, has come as a shock because Miss Symonds was expected to give birth in the early summer, although a due date was never confirmed. The newborn came just three weeks after his father was fighting coronavirus in intensive care.
Announcing the birth of their son, who has not been named yet, his spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister and Miss Symonds are thrilled to announce the birth of a healthy baby boy at a London hospital earlier this morning. Both mother and baby are doing very well. The PM and Miss Symonds would like to thank the fantastic NHS maternity team.’ He added at a Lobby briefing this afternoon: ‘The PM was with Ms Symonds this morning for the birth of his son and is now back at work in Number 10′.
The Queen has sent a private message of good wishes to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds to congratulate them on the birth of their son, Buckingham Palace said in a statement, as messages of goodwill flooded in from all over the world.
No 10 has not revealed the hospital the baby was born in – although St Thomas’, where Mr Johnson was in ICU just over a fortnight ago, is the closest to Downing Street. It was previously reported that Carrie had wanted a home birth but these have largely been suspended by the NHS because of coronavirus.
The new family are planning to live in their Downing Street flat along with their dog Dilyn, the spokesman confirmed, adding Mr Johnson had left hospital and was back working in Westminster.
The couple got engaged while holidaying on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique over the new year and announced they would marry and were having a baby on February 29, days after the PM’s divorce from Marina Wheeler was confirmed.
The birth came after an extraordinary month for the couple, who were self-isolating separately, first because of Carrie’s pregnancy and then when Boris fell ill. Mr Johnson then spent a week in hospital, including three days in intensive care, and Miss Symonds was also briefly bedridden with symptoms of Covid-19, but made a full recovery.
They were only reunited last week at Chequers before she went into labour.
It is also just over two weeks since the PM was discharged from intensive care where he had been battling coronavirus. Miss Symonds also suffered symptoms of the disease.
Mr Johnson is said to have been by her side throughout the birth. She sent him scans of the baby while he was ill with coronavirus earlier this month to raise his spirits.
Neighbours of Josephine McAfee, Carrie Symonds’s mother expressed a mixture of delight and shock at news of the baby.
Carrie is a regular visitor to her mother’s home in South West London, where she also lived before going to university.
Peter Rees said: ‘I saw Ms McAfee this morning in her front garden and said hello. She didn’t say anything about being a grandmother. I’d heard it on the news and thought she might mention it.
‘I’m very happy for Carrie and Boris. The whole country is going through a difficult time and it’s nice to have some good news. It’s not quite a Royal baby but it’ll do.’
Local resident Dawn Humberstone said: ‘I’ve seen Carrie around from time to time and she’s always very pleasant. It’s great news that she’s had a baby boy.
‘Her and Boris must be going through some very mixed emotions. It wasn’t that long ago that they both had coronavirus and he was in intensive care. And now they’re parents. Everybody around here is really happy for them, regardless of their political affiliations.
Miss Symonds has been back living with Mr Johnson at Number 11 Downing Street as the Prime Minister leads the Government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
She had previously been self-isolating in Camberwell, South London, with the couple’s dog Dilyn, after suffering from symptoms of coronavirus.
The 32-year-old former government adviser then joined Mr Johnson at the PM’s country home of Chequers in Buckinghamshire while he recovered from the virus.
Mr Johnson returned to work on Monday after being photographed back at Downing Street on Sunday evening.
If it was a full-term pregnancy of 40 weeks, conception would have taken place last July, around the time Mr Johnson took over from Theresa May as prime minister.
Boris already has four children with second wife Marina, Lara Lettice, 26, Milo Arthur, 24, Cassia Peaches, 22, and Theodore Apollo, 20. He also has a fifth child, Stephanie Macintyre, 11, after an affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre with a sixth child from another affair also rumoured.
The acrimonious split with Marina has caused tension between Mr Johnson and his children, who he asked to meet in person in February to tell them he was engaged to Carrie and they were having a baby.
But not all of his children reportedly turned up for their father’s announcement and are said to be ‘furious’ because they believe Carrie and Boris got together after an affair.
Lara reportedly branded her father a ‘selfish b******’ after his split with her mother.
Mr Johnson, 55, and Ms Symonds announced in late February that they were expecting a baby in ‘early summer’, and that they had become engaged at the end of last year.
The news of the birth was welcomed by politicians today, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeting: ‘So thrilled for Boris and Carrie. Wonderful to have a moment of unalloyed joy!’
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: ‘Great to hear Downing Street is getting a new resident. Congratulations to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds on the birth of their son.’
Former chancellor Sajid Javid tweeted: ‘Congratulations Carrie Symonds and Boris Johnson. Such wonderful uplifting news!’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘Wonderful news. Many congratulations to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds.’
The Prime Minister’s father, Stanley Johnson, said he was ‘absolutely delighted’ and ‘thrilled’ by the birth of his grandson.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: ‘Some good news – sending congratulations to Carrie and the PM. And wishing health and happiness to the wee one.’
And the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, tweeted: ‘Congratulations and prayers for @BorisJohnson and @CarrieSymonds as they welcome their son into the world. Wishing them every blessing and happiness.’
Mr Johnson was discharged from St Thomas’ Hospital in London following a period in intensive care, they both thanked NHS staff for their ‘magnificent’ work. But was not well enough for work straight away.
First Secretary Dominic Raab ‘deputised’ for Mr Johnson while he was off, but he was said to have acted as a facilitator of debate in Cabinet rather than forcing decisions.
Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds made history as the first unmarried couple to officially live together in Downing Street when they moved in last year.
Rumours had been swirling all morning about Mr Johnson’s absence from PMQs today.
Downing Street had refused to say whether the premier would be in the Commons for the regular session, which would have been his first since recovering from illness.
It was not clear whether he was still not up to an hour of intensive grilling from MPs, but Ms Symonds’ pregnancy was also the source of speculation.
Carrie and Boris first met in 2012 when he was Mayor of London and she worked for the Tory party.
There were whispers of a close relationship in 2018 after they were seen speaking flirtatiously outside a Tory party ball.
Later that year Boris was thrown out by his wife Marina and said in a statement they were divorcing and had ‘separated some time ago’.
Six months later their relationship was confirmed after they were seen holidaying together in Italy.
When Mr Johnson and former Tory Party head of press Miss Symonds fell in love, many were sceptical that it could last.
The cynics appeared to have been proved right when they were overheard having a spectacular domestic spat in their London house early in their relationship that saw the police called.
Their well-publicised plate-smashing row was recorded by neighbours who claimed she yelled ‘get off me’ and ‘get out of my flat’ in Camberwell, south London last year.
But they have proved the doubters wrong. Despite not being married, they negotiated tricky moments like visiting the Queen at Balmoral as an unmarried couple, with great dignity.
Miss Symonds proved a great asset to Mr Johnson in the election campaign. She curbed her love of the limelight and made sure he was the centre of attention.
Within weeks of becoming Prime Minister she became pregnant. Mr Johnson was heavily criticised soon into his premiership when many parts of Britain were badly flooded and he failed to visit them.
At the time he was staying with Miss Symonds at the Foreign Secretary’s official residence, Chevening in Kent, while repairs were being carried out at Chequers.
Mr Johnson fell in love with Chequers in his days as Foreign Secretary in Theresa May’s government.
But Mr Johnson’s political rivals lined up to brand the engagement announcement a distraction ploy as Britain suffered severe floods.
The birth of their first child comes after a rollercoaster month where Boris almost died from coronavirus and his fiancee also started showing symptoms.
On March 27 – the day Boris tested positive for coronavirus – Carrie shared a photograph of herself self-isolating with their dog Dilyn at the £1.3million Camberwell house she bought with Mr Johnson last year.
On April 5 Mr Johnson, 55, was rushed into ICU at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London with breathing difficulties and his partner was not allowed to be by his side because of her pregnancy and a blanket ban on visitors.
They have been together since he was discharged.
Carrie was brought up by her mother Josephine, who is now 71, in East Sheen, South-West London and attended the private £20,000-a-year Godolphin & Latymer School.
Her father Matthew, a founder of the Independent newspaper, lived in a large property not far away in Twickenham with his wife, Alison, with whom he has three children.
Matthew had an affair with Josephine, who was a lawyer on the paper— and Carrie is the product of that affair, born in 1988.
END
Be the first to comment