Boris and Carrie Johnson are moving their planned July nuptials from Checkers to another venue, sources have confirmed.
The decision to move the party came after Johnson resigned on Thursday and it emerged the couple had planned to host a postponed wedding reception at the prime minister’s residence.
The Johnsons had already sent out save-the-date invitations to party guests at Checkers, the Prime Minister’s gracious home in Buckinghamshire, at the end of the month.
Plans for the wedding celebration at Checkers have led to accusations that Johnson is trying to delay his departure from No.10 until that date. But this was denied by sources close to Johnson, who said it was not a factor and that the party was being moved elsewhere.
Just hours earlier, newly appointed education secretary James Cleverley told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that a new prime minister should allow the couple to hold their wedding reception at Checkers, even if Johnson was gone by then.
Cleverley said: “I think if it’s done to that point, I suspect it would be a pretty generous move on the part of the new prime minister to allow it to go ahead.
“Private functions like these don’t put a burden on the public purse … I think it’s rude to be negative about two people who want to celebrate their marriage and their love for each other.”
The Johnsons married last year in a small ceremony with 30 guests due to Covid restrictions, but their spokesman said at the time they planned to celebrate again in the summer of 2022. This is the third marriage for the Johnsons, who have two children with Carrie.
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The ceremony last year at Westminster Cathedral was prepared in secret and guests celebrated in the Downing Street garden, with only one official photo released.
Johnson’s critics in the Conservative Party – including former prime minister John Major – have called on him to leave immediately and let his deputy Dominic Raab serve as caretaker prime minister because of his party’s lack of confidence in him.
Carrie Johnson watched her husband’s resignation speech at Downing Street, carrying their daughter Romy in a sling. Their young son Wilf was waiting in the entrance hall of number 10.
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