Skip to content
openDemocracy
Subscribe

Boris Johnson: I should have had more women in top team during Covid

But the former PM rejected accusations of a ‘toxic’ culture and said he also needed team to be ‘argumentative’

By Ruby Lott-Lavigna
Boris Johnson: I should have had more women in top team during Covid
Boris Johnson rejected claims of a toxic culture in Downing Street during the pandemic, but admitted the gender balance of his team should have been better | Covid-19 inquiry
Published:
Share

There should have been more women at the heart of the government during the pandemic, Boris Johnson has told the Covid inquiry.

Giving evidence today, the former prime minister rejected claims he built a toxic team that people refused to be part of, but conceded the lack of diversity had an impact.

“I think that the gender balance of my team should have been better”, he said. “When I was running London, it was great, it was 50/50, and it was a very harmonious team.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. If you have any queries about republishing please contact us. Please check individual images for licensing details.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0