Dominic Raab has called criticism of Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie “deeply distasteful” for his claims that he tried to help her get the best jobs.
The deputy prime minister told Sky News’s Kay Burley that it was part of what he described as a “food frenzy” over any allegations about the prime minister.
Mr Raab said it was “out of order” for Ms Johnson to be attacked “as a means of getting the prime minister”.
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Later in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister responded to a question from a Labor MP about the allegations by saying that the opposition party “does not want to talk about what is happening in the real world”.
The comments come after sources told the Daily Mirror this week that the prime minister had discussed the roles of his wife in the autumn of 2020, either as a green ambassador for the COP26 summit or as a communications director. of the Earthshot Award from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Downing Street said the prime minister had never recommended his wife to a government post, but did not deny that he considered or discussed the measure.
It follows previous reports that Mr Johnson tried to hire Ms Johnson, before marrying, as chief of staff when he was Foreign Secretary in 2018, a claim that has been denied by Downing Street.
Labor MP Chris Bryant said the idea of ​​appointing her as a special adviser to the Foreign Ministry while he had a relationship with her was “manifestly corrupt”.
Raab told Sky News that Mr Bryant’s language was “particularly irresponsible” and added: “Frankly, these attacks on Carrie are deeply unpleasant.”
He said the allegations had been “answered bluntly as defective”.
“Frankly, what I think you’re seeing is a political attack on Carrie as a means to get the prime minister and I think that’s out of order.
“There is a kind of food frenzy with everything or anything that is even being launched as a claim against the Prime Minister or, in this case, his wife and I think that is wrong.”
Asking for an inquiry into the matter, Mr Raab said: “Ultimately, the number 10 has been very clear on this. I think it is a partisan attack. It is very unfortunate that Carrie is being used to attack the Prime Minister. “This is not”.
The claim that Mr Johnson tried to hire Carrie as chief of staff was reported to The Times on Saturday, but was withdrawn from later editions.
Downing Street has admitted that there were talks between Number 10 and the newspaper after its initial publication and before it was withdrawn.
During questions from the Prime Minister on Wednesday, Labor MP Chris Elmore asked the Prime Minister: “Have you ever considered appointing your current spouse to a government post or to any organization in one of the royal houses?
“Be honest Prime Minister: yes or no?”
Johnson replied: “I know why the opposing party wants to talk about non-existent jobs in the media because they don’t want to talk about what’s going on in the real world.”