Stanley Johnson's allegations and pandemic gaffes as Boris makes knighthood bid

07 March 2023 , 11:08

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Boris Johnson is trying to get his dad knighted (Image: Getty Images)

Discredited ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's shameless bid to get his dad, Stanley Johnson, a knighthood sparked outrage across Westminster and nationwide yesterday.

Described by Labour leader Keir Starmer as "classic of a man like Johnson", the baffling and outrageous move saw current PM Rishi Sunak urged to block the bid.

The ousted PM's ­resignation honours list was packed with cronies and wealthy donors, but the attempt to get his alleged wife-beater and sexist predator dad a gong was seen as grotesque even by Boris's shamelessly corrupt political standards.

Stanley, who is also well known for his 2017 stint on ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, has faced a string of allegations and Covid pandemic-related gaffes.

From domestic abuse allegations to Covid rows, here are some previously reported claims about Johnson Snr.

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Ex-wife Charlotte, pictured with Boris Johnson, claimed Stanley Johnson broke her nose (Andrew Parsons / i-Images)

Journalist Ailbhe Rea, political correspondent at the New Statesman, claimed she was groped

In a 2020 biography of Boris Johnson, author Tom Bower accused his father Stanley of breaking the nose of his late wife and Boris’s mother, Charlotte Wahl, in the 1970s.

Charlotte was reportedly quoted as saying: “He broke my nose. He made me feel like I deserved it.”

Caroline Nokes accuses Boris's dad of smacking her bum (pixel8000)

Stanley is said to have deeply regretted the incident and denied he had been violent on any other occasion.

In 2021, Tory MP Caroline Nokes accused Stanley of “smacking” her on the bottom and telling her “you’ve got a lovely seat” during the party’s annual conference in Blackpool in 2003.

Stanley said he had “no recollection of Caroline Nokes at all”.

Boris and Stanley Johnson in London (Andrew Parsons / Parsons Media)

Following the claims by Ms Nokes, former New Statesman journalist Ailbhe Rea accused Stanley of groping her at the 2019 Tory conference.

She said: “I am grateful to Caroline Nokes for calling out something none of us should have to put up with, not least from the Prime Minister’s father.” He has said he does not recall this incident either.

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Stanley defended going to Greece in July 2020 amid the pandemic – despite guidelines against all but essential travel. He claimed his trip was “essential” to “Covid-proof” his holiday villa.

Stanley Johnson is evicted from the I'm A Celeb jungle in 2017 (James Gourley/REX/Shutterstock)

Boris refused to criticise the trip, saying at the time: “I think you ought to raise that with him.”

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In another Covid row in September 2020, Stanley was pictured mask-free at a newsagents in London – despite wearing masks having been compulsory in shops for months.

He told the Mirror at the time he was “extremely sorry for the slip-up” and he urged “absolutely everybody” to follow the rules on masks and social distancing.

Ashley Cowburn