Boris Johnson’s attempts to recover his reputation appear to have hit another bump in the road after his newly-appointed spin doctor promised the prime minister is “not a complete clown”.
The new director of communications for No.10, Guto Harri, told Welsh-language outlet, Golwg 360, exactly how he secured his job with Johnson.
He said: “I walked in, I gave him a salute and said, ‘prime minister, Guto Harri reporting for duty’, and he stood up from behind his desk and started to salute but then said, ‘What am I doing I should take the knee for you.’ And we both laughed.”
This was a reference to Harri’s decision to take the knee live on GB News when he was a presenter to show his support for England’s football team – a move which ultimately led to his departure from the controversial broadcaster last summer.
Harri said he also asked the prime minister, “Are you going to survive Boris?”, during their first meeting since they worked together when Johnson was London mayor.
He claimed Johnson replied “in his deep voice, slowly and with purpose”, before “singing a little as he finished his sentence, ‘I Will Survive’.”
Harri continued: “I inevitably invited him to say, ‘You’ve got all your life to live’ and he replied ‘I’ve got all my love to give’ so we had a little blast of Gloria Gaynor!′
“No one expects that, but it was.”
“He’s not a complete clown, he’s a very likeable character,” Harri continued.
“Ninety percent of our discussion was very serious but he’s a character and there is fun to be had.
“He’s not the devil like some have mischaracterised him.”
Harri was chosen to replace Jack Doyle, one of the prime minister’s closest aides, who was part of the exodus from Downing Street last week.
No.10 has tried to spin the mass resignations – and the appointment of Harri – as part of the prime minister’s scheme to steady the Downing Street ship, but it doesn’t look like many people are delighted with the new spin doctor’s first PR stunt.
Here’s what everyone thought on Twitter.