No 10 spoke to Times before Carrie Johnson story dropped

Downing Street has confirmed that it spoke to a newspaper before it dropped a story involving the prime minister's wife, Carrie Johnson.

The Times printed a report on Saturday saying Mrs Johnson had been offered the role of chief-of-staff to Boris Johnson while he was foreign secretary, at a time when they were in a relationship.

But the item was removed from later editions and not published online.

No 10 said it had spoken to the Times before and after the story came out.

The prime minister's spokesman said it had been made clear by his political colleagues in Downing Street - and by Mrs Johnson's spokesperson - that the claim was "not true".

But a government source told the BBC the conversation following publication had not included mention of legal action.

Mr Johnson, who became prime minister in 2019, served as foreign secretary from 2016 to 2018, when he resigned in protest at then Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit stance.

Two sources told the BBC that Mr Johnson had floated the idea with members of his team that his now-wife could be employed as his chief-of-staff when he was foreign secretary - and said multiple aides had advised him against it.

The Times declined to comment on why it had removed its story regarding Mr and Mrs Johnson during his time at the Foreign Office.

The prime minister's spokesman said Mr Johnson had not spoken personally to deputy editor Tony Gallagher asking for it to be removed.

The journalist who wrote the Times story, Simon Walters, told the New European website that he stood by it "100%".

"I was in lengthy and detailed communication with No 10 at a high level, [Mr Johnson's press secretary] Ben Gascoigne and Mrs Johnson's spokeswoman for up to 48 hours before the [Times] went to press," he said.

"At no point did any of them offer an on-the-record denial of any element of the story."

"Nor have any of these three offered an on-the-record denial to me since," Mr Walters added. "No 10 and Mr Gascoigne did not deny it off-the-record [meaning to be reported but not directly attributed to an individual] either."

Mr Johnson married Carrie Johnson - née Carrie Symonds - in May last year and they have two children together.

Mrs Johnson is a former head of communications for the Conservative Party.