BORIS Johnson has told his remaining staff that "change is good" as he sought to gloss over the departure of five of his top team.
The Prime Minister quoted the Disney film The Lion King in the address to his Downing Street team, telling them: "As Rafiki in the Lion King says, change is good, and change is necessary even though it’s tough. We’ve got to get on with our job of serving the people of this country.”
His official spokesman sought to play down the departures of three of the team, saying that the resignation of Comms chief Jack Doyle, permanent secretary Martin Reynolds and chief of staff Dan Rosenfield were already planned prior to the exit of policy chief Munira Mirza yesterday.
The spokesman said the trio were leaving by “mutual consent”, adding: "The departures of those three individuals were agreed with the Prime Minister ahead of Munira’s departure yesterday. Those were mutual decisions.
Asked if the same applied to Elena Narozanski, a special adviser in the policy unit who has also quit, the press official said: “No, I don’t believe so.”
He added: “I have seen that departure reported. My understanding is that it is correct.”
The spokesman also confirmed Mr Johnson used a line from the Lion King in the rallying address this morning, saying: "He reflected on the privilege of working in No 10 in order to deliver for the British people and reiterated his and No 10’s commitment to serving the public by keeping people safe, improving lives and spreading opportunity.
“As he reiterated to the team today, there is an important job to do, the public expects us to be focused on it, whether it is the situation in Ukraine, recovering from the pandemic or, as the Chancellor was setting out yesterday, on issues such as cost of living."
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