Boris Johnson will be back at work in Downing Street on Monday and is “raring to go” in the battle against coronavirus, he has told cabinet colleagues.
Just over a fortnight after leaving hospital on Easter Sunday and spending a week at Chequers, the prime minister will be “back to his normal schedule” following treatment for COVID-19 as he grapples with the dilemma of when to ease the lockdown.
Depending on doctors’ advice, Mr Johnson may host Monday’s daily Downing Street news conference and possibly take on the new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
“He is ‘raring to go’ and will be back Monday,” a Downing Street source told Sky News.
The source added: “Mr Johnson was updated on the progress being made in the UK’s fight against coronavirus and was given a detailed briefing on the policy work carried out so far on the next phase of our fight against the disease.
“The summit marked a tightening of grip from the prime minister, who held a series of calls and zoom meetings with key figures throughout the week.
Coronavirus: Boris Johnson will be back at work in Downing Street on Monday https://t.co/TrxFcC5rmp
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) April 25, 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be back at work in Downing Street from Monday morning, after recovering from coronavirus https://t.co/BHvJaV9Ryg pic.twitter.com/UnjLZGeJZr
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 25, 2020
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer, and former journalist, who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2019. He was Foreign Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. Johnson was Member of Parliament for Henley from 2001 to 2008 and has been MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015. Ideologically, he identifies as a progressive one-nation conservative.
Johnson was born in New York City to upper-middle-class English parents and educated at Eton College. He read Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was elected President of the Oxford Union in 1986. He began his career in journalism at The Times newspaper, from which he was dismissed for falsifying a quotation. Later he became the Brussels correspondent for The Daily Telegraph newspaper, where his articles exerted a strong influence on growing Eurosceptic sentiment on the British right. He was promoted to be an assistant editor from 1994 to 1999, and edited The Spectator magazine from 1999 to 2005. After being elected MP for Henley in 2001, Johnson served as a junior Shadow Minister under Conservative leaders Michael Howard and David Cameron. He largely adhered to the Conservatives’ party line but adopted a socially liberal stance on issues such as LGBT rights in parliamentary votes. In 2008, he was elected Mayor of London, resigning a month later from the House of Commons; he was re-elected as Mayor in 2012. During his mayoralty, Johnson oversaw the 2012 Summer Olympics, introduced the New Routemaster buses, a cycle hire scheme and the Emirates Air Line cable car crossing the Thames, and banned alcohol consumption on much of London’s public transport.
In 2015, Johnson was elected MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip; he stepped down as mayor the following year, during which he became a prominent figure in the successful Vote Leave campaign for Brexit. He then served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs during the earlier stages of Theresa May’s premiership; he resigned from the post two years later, in criticism of May’s approach to Brexit and the Chequers Agreement. After May resigned in 2019, he was elected Conservative leader and appointed prime minister. His September 2019 prorogation of Parliament was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court. In the 2019 general election, Johnson led the Conservative Party to its biggest victory since 1987, with the biggest percentage vote share of any party since 1979. The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union under the terms of a revised Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Johnson has been a controversial figure in British journalism and politics. Supporters have praised him as an entertaining, humorous, and popular figure, with an appeal stretching beyond traditional Conservative voters and Eurosceptics. Conversely, his critics have accused him of dishonesty, elitism, and cronyism, and of using offensive language. Johnson is the subject of several biographies and fictionalised portrayals.