British leader Boris Johnson, partner have a baby boy

British leader Boris Johnson and his partner announce birth of boy

April 29, 2020 3:33 AM PT

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his partner, Carrie Symonds, announced the birth of a son on Wednesday, just two days after Johnson returned to work following hospitalization for the coronavirus.

Johnson’s office said Symonds gave birth to a “healthy baby boy at a London hospital” on Wednesday morning, and both mother and son were doing well.

Johnson, 55, and Symonds, 32, announced in February that they were engaged and expecting a child together. At the time they said the baby was due in early summer.

Johnson only returned to work Monday after suffering from a bout of coronavirus that left him dangerously ill. He spent a week in a London hospital, including three nights in intensive care, before recovering for two weeks away from London.

Symonds also said she was sick for a week with COVID-19 symptoms, though she wasn’t tested for the virus. The newborn boy is her first child.

Johnson has four children with his second wife, Marina Wheeler, from whom he is divorced, and has fathered at least one other child outside his marriages. He has consistently refused to say how many children he has fathered.

The baby is the third born to a sitting British prime minister this century. The wives of leaders Tony Blair and David Cameron also had babies while their husbands were in office.

Johnson had been due to return to Parliament on Wednesday to take part in the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who had deputized for Johnson during his illness, will stand in again for him.