New No. 10 press chief: Boris is ‘not a complete clown’

If Boris Johnson thought his new No. 10 hires would be less high-profile than their predecessors, he might want to think again. Not content with taking a side-swipe at Dominic Cummings on Twitter, it appears that Guto Harri decided to do an interview with the Welsh media prior to taking up his post as Downing Street director of communications. Ignoring the convention that advisers stay out of the limelight, Harri regaled Golwg 360 with anecdotes about his appointment. He told the outlet that he was hired by Johnson on Friday, walking into Downing Street via the Cabinet Office to avoid being seen:

I walked in and did a salute and said “Prime Minister, Guto Harri reporting for duty” and he stood up from behind his desk and started taking the salute but then he said “What am I doing, I should take the knee for you.” And we both laughed. 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”.