Boris Johnson “is not a complete clown”, according to his new chief spin doctor.
In his first interview since taking over as the Number 10 director of comms, Guto Harri also revealed the prime minister had saluted and sung the Gloria Gaynnor anthem “I Will Survive” when interviewing him for the job.
Guto Harri, a former BBC journalist who worked for Johnson when he was London Mayor, told a Welsh language website that he met the PM at 5pm on Friday and said: “Guto Harri reporting for duty.”
He said Johnson replied: “What am I doing, I should take the knee for you.”
That was a reference to Harri quitting TV station GB News last year after taking the knee live on air.
Harri went on: “Then I asked ‘Are you going to survive Boris?’ And he said in his deep, slow and purposeful voice and started to sing a little while finishing the sentence and saying ‘I Will Survive’.
“In an inevitable way that invited me to say ‘You got all your life to live’ and he replied, ‘I got all my love to give’, so we got a little blast from Gloria Gaynor!”
He added: “There was a lot of laughter and we sat down to have a serious conversation about how to get the government back on track and how we are moving forward.”
In the Welsh interview, Harri added: “Everyone’s attention is on recent events that have caused a lot of hurt, but in the end, that’s nothing to do with the way people voted two years ago.
“He is not a complete clown, but he is a very likeable character.”
Harri arrived for his first day at work on Monday morning to anger and ridicule from Tory opponents.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "So many people still struggling with the impacts and trauma of covid, or worrying about the spiralling costs of living…but for Boris & Co it’s all just a bit of a laugh. This isn’t funny - in the current circumstances, it is offensive.”
The SNP’s Drew Hendry MP compared Harri’s interview to an instalment of the 1980s tv series Dallas where a plot twist was resolved by pretending one of the characters had woken up from a dream.
Hendry tweeted: “No.10 soap opera latest: “Let’s forgive him he’s just a clown”. The past has all been a dream and the laugh in your face parties and lies aren’t important - that’s the plan now. All credibility has gone and ratings are in the toilet. Not quite Dallas, but they sure are a shower”
A Labour spokesman said: "Britain faces a combination of spiralling bills, rising prices and Tory tax rises. But the PM’s new team have decided to kick off their much-vaunted ‘reset’ with yet more clown show nonsense."
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