Boris Johnson’s Fiancée Gives Birth to Baby Boy
POLITICS DIGEST – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became a father again Wednesday — just two days after returning to work after his near-death battle with the coronavirus.
The 55-year-old leader’s fiancée, Carrie Symonds — who had also been sick with the bug — gave birth to a “healthy baby boy at a London hospital earlier this morning,” Johnson’s office confirmed.
The news was a shock because they previously said the baby was due in early summer. But “both mother and baby are doing very well,” the announcement said.
Johnson was with his 32-year-old fiancée for the birth, according to The Telegraph. “The PM and Ms. Symonds would like to thank the fantastic NHS maternity team,” the statement said, confirming the birth was at a national health service hospital.
The baby is the third born to a sitting British prime minister this century, with Johnson joining Tony Blair and David Cameron.
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Johnson and Symonds announced in February that they were engaged and expecting a child together, saying at the time that the baby was due in early summer.
The prime minister had only returned to work Monday, just two weeks after he left a hospital after admitting he was near-death in intensive care with COVID-19.
Symonds also said she was sick for a week with COVID-19 symptoms, though she wasn’t tested for the virus.
“Such happy news amid so much uncertainty – 2020 is certainly a year they will never forget,” House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said.
The baby is Symonds’ first child. Johnson has four children with his second wife Marina Wheeler, from whom he is divorced, and has fathered at least one other child outside his marriages.
“More sleepless nights ahead!” tweeted Arlene Foster, the First Minister of Northern Ireland.
Johnson has previously said he intended to take paternity leave.
He had been due to return to Parliament on Wednesday to take part in the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will stand in for him.
Source: New York Post
