Boris Johnson was placed under general anaesthetic for a routine operation on his sinuses this morning, No 10 has said.
Responsibility for “significant decisions” facing the government was passed over to deputy prime minister Dominic Raab for a 24-hour period from the start of the operation.
It comes as Downing Street has confirmed that members of Boris Johnson’s team intervened following the publication of a story about his wife Carrie in The Times, but denied that the prime minister himself contacted the paper to complain.
Mr Johnson was driven to an NHS hospital in London around 6am on Monday morning and was put under anaesthetic shortly afterwards for the operation, which No 10 described as “minor”.
The op - which had been scheduled for some time and was not an emergency - was described as a success and Mr Johnson returned to Downing Street around 10am, where he is spending the day resting.
