Carrie Johnson sees No10 as a ‘prison’ and plans to leave politics when Boris leaves power as the pair plan for life after years in the Downing Street ‘pressure cooker’
- Prime Minister’s wife wants them to get away from the ‘pressure cooker’ of life in Downing St
- The couple live in a lavish four-bedroom flat at number 11, paid for by the taxpayer
- She is reportedly unhappy with the constant scrutiny they encounter out there
Carrie Johnson feels No10 is ‘like a prison’ and will try to make a clear break from politics when Boris leaves power.
The Prime Minister’s wife, a former Conservative Party spinner, wants them to get out of the ‘pressure cooker’ of life in Downing Street†
The couple live in a lavish four-bedroom flat at number 11, but reportedly dissatisfied with the constant scrutiny they encounter outside of it.
According to the Telegraph, the avid environmentalist will focus on her charitable work when the new Tory leader takes over in September.
The couple have a £1.2 million house in Camberwell, south London, but are not planning to live there for security reasons. Mr Johnson also has a house in Oxfordshire which, like the house in London, is commercially let.
A source told the newspaper: ‘Downing Street is like a prison. It’s nice enough in the condo, but it doesn’t have its own outdoor space that’s really yours.
‘The garden is shared with the staff and you can’t get out of the gates without people following you or taking pictures. That’s a nightmare.’
The Prime Minister’s wife, a former Conservative Party spinner, is reported to want them out of the ‘pressure cooker’ of Downing Street life.
The couple live in a lavish four-bedroom flat at number 11, but reportedly dissatisfied with the constant scrutiny they encounter outside of it.
It came as Rachel Johnson defended her brother Boris in an emotional retelling of his time as prime minister, praising his “drive, intelligence and energy” as he set out to fulfill his “youthful ambition” to be “world king.”
The LBC presenter opened up about the prime minister who eventually admitted he was out of options after ministers and MPs forced Mr Johnson to announce his resignation last Thursday.
But her impassioned defense of his No. 10 record didn’t inspire widespread admiration, as one Twitter user wrote that the “insane” host should “keep herself at home while sobbing.”
She praised her brother for “leading the country through the Covid pandemic” and “setting the course of the west” after Russia invaded Ukraine, while “promoting his own beliefs about what it’s like to be British ‘.
Ms Johnson, 56, described the ‘rise and fall’ of her brother who has ‘near realizing’ the ambition he has had since his sophomore year: to become ‘world king’.
She said: ‘I have not deliberately listened to the revenge, the dancing on the grave, the spitting on the grave and I do not listen to those who have bashed Boris well. I’m not here to praise him and I’m not here to bury him – just to say a few simple things from the heart as his sister.
“Let me tell you a story when Rishi’s slick promotional video kicked off, say, the rise and fall of Boris in a way a little kid could understand.
“Once upon a time there was a little boy who dreamed of becoming world king, he first said it when he was two, and in fact almost reached his ambition.
He was not rich in wealth, his privilege lay in his education, his intelligence, his drive, his energy, and he began to realize his childhood aspirations, including writing a number one bestseller, which he did with his book: The Churchill Factor: How one man made history.
She referred to Partygate and how Mr Johnson celebrated his 56th birthday in June 2020 with a small gathering and a birthday cake in the Cabinet room.