UK PM Boris Johnson’s Father Stanley Johnson Acquires French Citizenship

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s father has secured French citizenship. Stanley Johnson, an ex-member of the European Parliament received his new passport after he submitted his application at the consulate in the UK in November 2021. His application to become a French citizen was approved on Wednesday, May 18, as the six-month deadline for the country’s justice ministry to raise objection has elapsed, Mirror reported. 

The French Justice Ministry in the statement announced that Stanley Johnson secured French nationality based on facts in his application on May 18. The ministry further added that the decision will apply only to Johnson and not extend to his descendants. A Justice Ministry source in Paris confirmed that Johnson’s application for French nationality was successful and he would be “invited to an official ceremony.” Johnson will be welcomed as a French citizen underneath the Tricolour, with the French national anthem, playing, Evening Standard reported. Stanley Johnson has ties to France through his mother, Irene William, despite being born in Cornwell. Stanley Johnson, a former employee of the European Commission lived with his family in Brussels in the 1970s.

Stanley Johnson spoke to BFM and expressed his happiness over securing citizenship in France, Evening Standard reported. He said that he is “very happy” and called it “something very precious” as his mother was born in Paris. Johnson stated that his mother and grandmother were French and ”Europe is more than the single market, it is more than the European Union.” He stressed that “I am European in that sense.” Notably, Stanley Johnson was in favour of Remain before the European Union at the time of the referendum in 2016. However, he took a U-turn on his Remainer stance and called Brexit “probably a good idea,” as per the news report. French law usually stops children of its citizens from claiming nationality if their family has been living in another country for over 50 years without making use of their nationality rights. However, the applications of people can be considered if they prove “concrete ties of a cultural, professional, economic or family nature” with France. Stanley Johnson reportedly used this clause for seeking French citizenship. 

Image: AP