No 10 confirms it asked the Times to drop Carrie Johnson story

Newspaper swiftly withdrew article alleging Boris Johnson tried to hire his future wife as chief of staff

The Times swiftly withdrew a story that made allegations about the prime minister and his wife after Downing Street intervened to complain about it, No 10 has confirmed.

The piece alleged that Boris Johnson attempted to hire Carrie Symonds, who he has since married, as his taxpayer-funded chief of staff when he was foreign secretary and she was a Conservative party press chief.