Boris Johnson’s new spin chief has insisted the PM is “not a complete clown”, moments after revealing the two of them burst into ‘I Will Survive’ on their first meeting in his new job.
Guto Harri, the PM’s new director of communications after aide Jack Doyle quit over Partygate, gave the eyebrow-raising interview after rejoining his old ally in No10.
Labour branded the No 10 refresh "more clownshow nonsense", as Mr Johnson tries to get his scandal-hit premiership back on track.
Mr Harri made waves on his first day in the job with an interview with Welsh language news site Golwg360.
“Even though I hadn’t seen him [Boris Johnson] in the flesh for years, we picked up where we’d left off in terms of the tone of our friendship,” he said.
“I walked in, saluted and said, ‘Prime Minister, Guto Harri reporting for duty’ and he stood up behind his desk and started to salute too but then he said, ‘What am I doing, I should take the knee for you.’
“And both of us were laughing. Then I asked ‘Are you going to survive Boris?’ and he said in his deep voice, slowly and deliberately, and started to sing a little as he finished the sentence, saying ‘I Will Survive’.
“Inevitably, I had to reply with ‘You’ve got all your life to live’ to which he replied ‘I’ve got all my love to give’, so we had a little blast of Gloria Gaynor!
“Nobody expects that, but that’s how it went.”
The new director of communications, who worked for Boris Johnson when he was Mayor of London, said there was “a lot of laughing” before concluding: “He’s not a complete clown, but he’s a very likeable character.
“About 90% of our discussion was very serious but it shows he’s a character and there’s fun to be had with him. He’s not a devilish man like some are trying to misrepresent him.”
Just weeks ago Mr Harri had criticised the chaos in No10, and in 2018 he accused the Prime Minister of "digging his political grave" with ill-judged remarks.
He made the criticism after his old boss compared Theresa May's Brexit deal to a "suicide vest".
He also referred to reports of Mr Johnson's numerous affairs, saying: "Unfortunately he is now dragging us into a place where we think that we can joke about suicide vests and that we can be sexually incontinent."
Downing Street was also forced to defend the appointment of the new spin chief after it emerged he advised Chinese tech giant Huawei.
The former journalist, who has previously worked as an adviser to Mr Johnson, resigned from Hawthorn Advisers to take on his new role in No 10.
The lobbying firm included Huawei as a client when he worked there, with sources telling the Sun he had “a hands-on role”.
Huawei technology will be stripped from the UK's 5G network by 2027 after a Government U-turn in 2020.
Minister initially said Huawei could play a limited role in the broadband infrastructure but abandoned the plan following pressure from Washington.
Asked if there were concerns the PM’s spokesman replied: “No. He provided advice to the clients of a private company. That’s entirely legitimate, it’s in the public domain.
“We wouldn’t exclude from government someone with valuable expertise.”
The PM made new appointments over the weekend, with Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay becoming his chief of staff alongside two other jobs.
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 clownshow nonsense.
"It’s already clear that another round of deckchair shuffling in Downing Street hasn’t changed the fact this Tory government is utterly incapable of getting on with its job.”
Meanwhile the PM's new director of policy has said he wants to "rapidly" return the Tories to a position where they can cut taxes, as he set out his priorities for the role.
Andrew Griffith, the MP for Arundel and South Downs, was appointed head of the No 10 policy unit last week following the departure of Munira Mirza, one of Boris Johnson's most loyal and longstanding advisers.
Ms Mirza quit on Thursday with a damning letter criticising Mr Johnson for his use of a "scurrilous" smear against Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, over the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
Writing about his plans for the policy chief job in Conservative Home, Mr Griffith said he wants to "return rapidly to the point when we can cut taxes to let everyone keep more of their own money".
But Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “I personally think nothing will really change until the person at the top changes because all routes lead to the Prime Minister.”
