Boris and Carrie Johnson have come under fire today for plans to host a wedding party at Chequers - the prime minister’s grace-and-favour home in Buckinghamshire - in July, despite the prime minister announcing his resignation just yesterday. The couple, who got married in May last year, were said to have sent save-the-date invitations to guests for a huge bash at the end of the month, some claiming that’s the reason Johnson refuses to step down before the Autumn. Now, reports state that the party will be moved to another location amid the backlash.
This morning, newly appointed education secretary, James Cleverly, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Johnson should be allowed to have his Chequers wedding party even if a new prime minister has been appointed by then. ‘I think if that is done by that point in time, I suspect it would be a rather generous action of the new prime minister to allow that to go ahead,’ he said. ‘Private functions like that do not impose a burden on the public purse … I think it’s churlish to be negative about two people who want to celebrate their marriage and their love for each other.’
Naturally, the confirmation that Boris intended to have a party has led to intense backlash – sources now confirming that the party will not go ahead at Chequers and that it was not a factor in delaying Johnson’s decision to stay at No 10 over the summer. In fact, the public were so aghast at Johnson’s shameless intention to celebrate at Chequers despite resigning in disgrace yesterday, ‘Chequers’ began trending on Google. ‘Boris wedding party Chequers’ is a breakout search term, with many sharing their thoughts about the scandal online.
The public will be happy to see the party has been moved then, it seems. And frankly, we agree – while many can embrace the idea of celebrating love and marriage after a pandemic wedding, it’s completely inappropriate to continue using public funds by living and partying at Chequers when so much of Johnson’s legacy is littered with deaths, disgraced MPs and a worsening cost of living crisis.
He might want one last hurrah, but we want to be able to be able to feed our families without financial stress, to have a functioning government we can trust with our best interests – now is the time our elected representatives should be buckling down to makes our lives better, not partying in lavish taxpayer funded estates. Party in a home you paid for yourself Boris, and preferably when you’re off the clock…