Stanley Johnson compares raising son Boris to ‘animal welfare’ but insists he has ‘no complaints’

Stanley Johnson has said ‘animal welfare’ goes hand in hand with ‘child welfare’, as the father-of-six appeared on Friday’s Good Morning Britain.

While he had intended to speak about campaigns for animals, Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway couldn’t help but grill him about his son Boris, who has just welcomed his eighth child.

The ITV hosts began questioning whether Boris was ‘mischievous’ growing up, following recent news that the former Prime Minister hasn’t produced WhatsApps during the pandemic because he ‘forgot’ his passcode.

‘I sense a trap right now,’ Stanley began, as the discussion turned towards his son.

When asked by Ben if Boris, 59, was ‘mischievous’ as a child, the former politician replied: ‘I came in here to talk about animal welfare, I suppose you could say child welfare is all part of it.’

He went on: ‘I’ve been a very fortunate man, in so many respects.

‘In fact, I say to myself “What on Earth have I done to enjoy this good fortune?”‘

Stanley Johnson remained coy over whether his son Boris was ‘mischievous’ as a child (Picture: David M. Benett/Getty Images)

He added: ‘I’m just saying, I have no cause for complaint. It’s been a challenging existence.’

Ben probed: ‘Being Boris’ dad?!’

Stanley continued by clarifying he meant ‘everything’, and that he wasn’t going to complain about his life.

Kate replied: ‘You don’t have to complain, we just wondered if he was mischievous when he was younger!’

‘I can’t see that,’ the I’m A Celebrity said.

‘I can’t see that there was anything which particularly I could say, “Yeah that was deliberately mischievous.”

Stanley refused to ‘speculate’ on Boris returning to politics (Picture: PA)

‘Did he shorten my stirrups for example, and then I got on the horse only to find my stirrups had been shortened.

‘That would be mischievous – but I don’t think he did it.’

Stanley went on to recall Boris’ time as Prime Minister during the pandemic, in which he was hospitalised when he had Covid-19.

When asked if he thought Boris would return to politics, he added: ‘I’m not speculating anything.’

He then joked about speculating how many grandchildren he had: ‘Everytime you change your will, it costs you £500!’

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1.

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‘It’s been a challenging existence.’