The friend said the domestic situation for Johnson might have worked better if the prime minister had made Checkers their permanent base and effectively traveled from the gracious country house in Buckinghamshire to Downing Street on a regular basis.
The source said: “Downing Street was a pressure cooker. They were right at the top of the workplace and you can’t leave that behind. It was hopeless.”
The Johnsons married in May last year while the Covid restrictions were in place and threw a small Downing Street garden party to celebrate.
A much bigger party was planned for Checkers, but a new venue has now been found after complaints that Mr Johnson was holding onto the power to be able to use the country house for the event.
Friends said Mrs Johnson would continue her charity work after her husband stepped down and was replaced by a new leader. She campaigns for animal rights, conservation and violence against women.
Any suggestion that she would resume her political career – she was the Conservative Party’s head of communications for a short period – “isn’t going to happen”, a friend said.
The couple bought a four-bedroom house in Camberwell, south London, for £1.2million in July 2019, but have no plans to live there once they leave Downing Street.
The property is known to be currently rented out and sources said it is too exposed, making it a security risk. The Johnsons have no plans to sell the house, but will keep it as an investment.
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