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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Laura Hampson and Sarah Young

How many children does Boris Johnson have?

Getty

Boris Johnson has given his final speech as prime minister one day after Liz Truss was announced as the new leader of the Conservative party.

In his speech, Johnson thanked “everybody who’s helped look after me and my family over the last three years, including Dilyn the dog”.

He joked, referring to Larry the Downing Street cat: “I just say to my party if Dilyn and Larry can put behind them their occasional difficulties then so can the Conservative party.”

Johnson’s resignation in July came after over 50 members of parliament resigned from their positions in protest to the prime minister.

Johnson has been leader of the Conservative party since July 2019, and won the general election as leader in December 2019.

While he has dealt with Brexit and the pandemic during his tenure, there have been several developments in her personal life too – including marrying Carrie Johnson (nee Symonds ) and having two children together.

In December 2021, Johnson and Carrie welcomed their second child.

They announced the birth of a “healthy baby girl” at a London hospital on 9 December and later revealed that they named her Romy Iris Charlotte Johnson.

A spokesperson for the couple said at the time: “Both mother and daughter are doing very well. The couple would like to thank the brilliant NHS maternity team for all their care and support.”

In July 2021, following the pregnancy announcement, Ms Johnson revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage earlier in the year, and felt “incredibly blessed to be pregnant again”.

“At the beginning of the year, I had a miscarriage which left me heartbroken,” she wrote. “I feel incredibly blessed to be pregnant again but I’ve also felt like a bag of nerves.”

Opening up about her miscarriage, Ms Johnson said she had found comfort in speaking to others who had also experienced a similar loss.

“Fertility issues can be really hard for many people, particularly when on platforms like Instagram it can look like everything is only ever going well.”

“I found it a real comfort to hear from people who had also experienced loss so I hope that in some very small way sharing this might help others too,” she said.

Boris Johnson and wife Carrie on their wedding day (PA Media)

The timing of her announcement suggests she was pregnant at the time of their wedding.

The couple were engaged in late 2019 and welcomed their first child, a son named Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in April 2020. They married in an intimate wedding ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in May 2021.

While the baby girl is Ms Johnson’s second child, Mr Johnson is more familiar with the experience of parenthood. During his resignation speech, Boris thanked Carrie and “all of my children”, however the exact number of offspring the prime minister has remains unclear.

Here is everything you need to know about Mr Johnson’s children.

When was the prime minister’s youngest baby born?

The youngest of Mr Johnson’s children is his daughter, Romy Iris Charlotte Johnson, who was born on 9 December 2021.

The baby girl is his second child with Carrie Johnson (nee Symonds) and is the younger sister to the pair’s son, Wilfred, who was born on 29 April, 2020.

The couple first announced that they were expecting a child in February 2020 and told the public that the child would be born in the early summer.

(Getty)

How many other children does Boris Johnson have?

It is believed that the prime minister has eight children, however, he has not officially confirmed the exact number.

What is known is that the prime minister and his second wife, Marina Wheeler, who separated in 2018, have four children together: Lara Lettice, 27, Milo Arthur, 25, Cassia Peaches, 23, and Theodore Apollo, 21.

Boris Johnson pictured with his daughter Lara Johnson at a polling station after casting their votes in the election for the next Mayor of London in 2012 (G

Mr Johnson also has a fifth child, Stephanie Macintyre, who was fathered as a result of an affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre.

The Appeal Court ruled in 2013 that the public had a right to know that he had fathered a daughter during an adulterous liaison while Mayor of London in 2009.

“The core information in this story, namely that the father had an adulterous affair with the mother, deceiving both his wife and the mother’s partner and that the claimant, born about nine months later, was likely to be the father’s child, was a public interest matter which the electorate was entitled to know when considering his fitness for high public office,” the court said.

Why is the number of children Mr Johnson has vague?

During the court proceedings, it was alleged that Stephanie Macintyre was one of two children the prime minister fathered as a result of an affair.

The three appeal court judges said: “It was not material to the judge's conclusion whether contraceptive precautions were taken.

“What was material was that the father's infidelities resulted in the conception of children on two occasions.”

Has the prime minister ever spoken publicly about his children?

Boris Johnson has famously diverted questions about his family and personal life, especially during the election campaign in 2019.

During a radio interview with LBC, presenter Nick Ferrari asked the prime minister how many children he had and if he was “fully involved” in their lives.

The prime minister responded: “I love my children very much but they are not standing at this election.

“I'm not therefore going to comment on them.”

He added: ”I am not going to put them onto the pitch in their election campaign when I think what people want to hear is what my plans are for the country, what this government is determined to do and how we are going to take this country forward.

“That is the way all parties should be judged.”

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