Don’t panic Britain but Boris Johnson is in charge of the country this week while Theresa May is on holiday
PM’s spokesman confirms the Foreign Secretary is the ‘senior minister on duty’ while the Tory leader is in Switzerland
BORIS Johnson is finally running the country after he was revealed to be covering for Theresa May while she is away on holiday this week.
The PM’s spokesman confirmed the Foreign Secretary is the most senior minister on duty, just weeks after crashing out of the Tory leadership election.
This effectively means he is minding the shop while Mrs May is walking in Switzerland with her husband, fulfilling a lifelong ambition to get his hands on the levers of power.
Last week Phillip Hammond was in charge as the PM left for her annual trip to the Alps, but as the Chancellor himself is now away the responsibility falls to Mr Johnson.
However Downing Street were keen to stress that Theresa May "remains very much in charge, and is being kept abreast of all issues."
The former London Mayor was understood to be back at his desk in Westminster this morning following a trip to the Greek island of of Trikeri with his family.
It comes after he was embroiled in a row with Liam Fox after the International Trade Secretary suggested Foreign Office powers be placed under his control.
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Mr Fox was accused of stirring up a Whitehall row after he wrote a letter to Mr Johnson moaning that British overseas trade would not “flourish” if it remained under his control.
But irritated Foreign Office officials threw out the claims instead sending over a small team to help out Dr Fox’s department.
A Downing Street source said Mrs May was “distinctly unimpressed” by the episode, which insiders described as a “power struggle”.
Department sources said the letter had “gone down like a lead balloon”.