Buckingham Palace received concerned calls from top officials about Johnson during the corona period | Abroad

Downing Street officials are said to have suggested to the Queen that they discuss their concerns during private audiences with Johnson. The series is based on interviews with key players at the top of the government and covers the period between 2016 and Liz Truss’s departure as Prime Minister in 2022.

In May 2020, as the government grappled with the pandemic, there were high tensions between Johnson’s political team and the civil service. Now sources have revealed that senior officials have gone to Buckingham Palace to express their concerns about the way Johnson has governed during the pandemic.

There were a number of clashes between Dominic Cummings, the former prime minister’s controversial chief of staff, and the head of the Civil Service, Sir Mark Sedwill, who subsequently left.

Officials reportedly expressed their concerns to the palace in the hope that the queen could express her concerns in her private conversations. A source said the then prime minister “needed to be reminded of the constitution”. Another source described the atmosphere in Downing Street during that period as “completely grim and completely insane”, saying relations were “simply toxic” and ties between Johnson’s team and the civil service were “severed”.

Buckingham Palace was already concerned about the behavior of Johnson’s government after the House of Commons remained closed in the summer of 2019 – the so-called “prorogation” (or “adjournment”). The Supreme Court subsequently ruled that this move was against the law. A source has told the BBC that this has raised “acute concerns”.

In the documentary, former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara refused to discuss the calls to Buckingham Palace.

Responding to the claims, Johnson’s team insists that Number 10’s actions were always within the constitution and that no member of the royal family raised such concerns with him.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.