The Daily Mail’s splash showing pictures of Boris Johnson’s holiday hideaway did not sit well with Press Gazette readers, according to our poll.
Two-thirds of respondents (1,255) to the question: “Was the Daily Mail right to run front-page pic of Boris Johnson’s secret holiday location?” said “no” and the Prime Minister had a right to privacy.
The PM decided to cut short his holiday for security reasons after the location became known.
The Daily Mail’s splash on 21 August exclusively revealed that Johnson was staying with his fiancee and their new baby in Scotland, but did not reveal the exact location.
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Only a third (609) of the 1,864 Press Gazette poll voters said the Mail’s picture splash was in the public interest.
In its exclusive story, which also ran on the front page of the Scottish Daily Mail, the paper revealed that the Prime Minister had been “enjoying his glorious isolation” amid a row over A-level results.
“Since the weekend, Mr Johnson and fiancée Carrie Symonds, 32, have been holidaying in a remote three-bedroom cottage on the Scottish coast,” the report said.
“And it appears the Prime Minister has lived up to reports that he would spend a few days of his summer holiday camping – as a tepee-style canvas tent has been pitched near the hideaway home. ”
Johnson came out in support of a free press on the weekend when Extinction Rebellion protesters blockaded the roads outside printing presses for national newspapers, including the Daily Mail.
But he was criticised by some, including Daily Mirror political editor Pippa Crerar, over his decision to exclude the Daily Mirror from his campaign bus when he was fighting for re-election in December last year.
Government ministers have also repeatedly refused to appear on Channel 4 News and ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
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