Boris Johnson has awkwardly dodged a question about when he is getting married after being quizzed by a member of the public.
The prime minister and his fiancée Carrie Symonds got engaged in December, and have been unable to tie the knot. Symonds will become the Tory leader’s third wife.
During a session of People’s Prime Minister’s Questions broadcast on Facebook on Thursday, Johnson was asked about the impact of coronavirus restrictions on weddings by Lara from Cornwall.
Referencing the roll-out of a vaccine and the expansion of rapid testing, Johnson said: “If you are thinking about the summer, I think you will be alright.
“It’s my strong hope and belief that by the summer, one way or the other, whether by vaccination, which I hope and believe we will have delivered by Easter, as I say, or by lateral flow testing, we’ll be in a different world.
“So, my hope is that by summer it really will be a different world for the weddings and events industry.”
Lara, who said her own wedding had been cancelled because of the pandemic, then pressed Johnson on his own plans for the future.
She said: “And you’re supposed to be getting married too, so ...”
Johnson responded on the defensive: “I didn’t want to drag that in. Anyway, we’ll take that one offline as they say.”
He added: “I think mass testing will help before Easter, hopefully, well before Easter, but I think you should be able to plan for a really much more active summer, and lots of happy nuptial events all over the UK.”
In April, Johnson and Symonds announced the birth of a boy, named Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson.