Stanley Johnson would be in line for “some sort of recognition” even if his son Boris Johnson wasn’t prime minister, his daughter has said.
Rachel Johnson’s comments came as the former PM, who was forced out of Downing Street last September following a series of scandals, is reportedly to give his father a knighthood as one of as many as 100 names put forward in his resignation honours list.
Rachel Johnson, a broadcaster, told The News Agents podcast: “If my brother hadn’t been prime minister, I think my father could have been in line for some sort of recognition in his own right.
“He’s done much more for the Tory party and the environment than dozens of people who have been given gongs to at this point.”
She added: “People can draw their own conclusions, please don’t ask me to, as it were, sit in judgment on it. Because it literally is too close. You’re talking about my brother and my father. That is a decision that my brother has made with regards my father or not.”
The former prime minister faced accusations of cronyism in 2020, after he nominated his brother Jo Johnson for a peerage.
In 2021, senior Tory MP Caroline Nokes and a journalist publicly accused Stanley Johnson, a former MEP, of touching them at Conservative party conferences.
Nokes, chairwoman of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee, accused Stanley Johnson of forcefully smacking her on the backside and making a vulgar comment at the Conservative party conference in 2003.
Stanley Johnson said after that he had “no recollection” of either incident.
Cabinet minister Michelle Donelan said there are “bigger fish to fry” as she played down the row.
The science secretary told LBC: “I think at this stage it is just speculation.
“Obviously, it’s the ex-prime minister’s prerogative to be able to make those types of appointments, but we’ll see if this story is true or not.”
The Times newspaper reported that the former prime minister has nominated his father for the honour.
A spokesperson for the former premier said: “We don’t comment on honours.”
Stanley Johnson also declined to comment.