Wilfred, Winston and Alexander have emerged as the bookies favourites for the name of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds‘ newborn baby son.
With Downing Street‘s newest resident yet to be named, there’s been a flurry of bets from punters across the country.
All bets are now off at Ladbrokes with Wilfred emerging as the heavily backed favourite.
William Hill is backing Winston as a favourite, with odds of 9/2, while Coral gave Alexander the shortest odds of 3/1.
Just before betting closed Ladbrokes were offering odds of 1/1 on Wilfred with Thomas the next favourite at 4/1.
Wilfred, Winston and Alexander have emerged as the bookies favourites for the name of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds’ newborn baby son
With speculation mounting that the Prime Minister’s son could be named after wartime leader Churchill, Winston was also another favourite at 12/1 at Ladbrokes.
Other names in the top ten at Ladbrokes were Alexander, Alfred, Arthur, Charlie and Edward.
Long odds were offered on Magic with Brexit Johnson also making an appearance at 1000/1.
While William Hill offered Keir and Dominic at 100/1.
Mr Johnson, 55, and Ms Symonds, 32, announced in March that they were expecting a baby in ‘early summer’, and that they had become engaged at the end of last year.
Ms Symonds gave birth to a ‘healthy’ baby boy at an NHS hospital in London today – weeks earlier than anticipated.
Mr Johnson is said to have been by his 32-year-old fiancee’s side throughout the labour before their son entered the world in the early hours of this morning.
The safe arrival of their child, Carrie’s first and Boris’ sixth, has come as a shock because Miss Symonds was expected to give birth later in the summer, although a due date was never confirmed by the couple.
They announced the pregnancy on February 29, days after the PM’s divorce from Marina Wheeler was confirmed, and got engaged while holidaying on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique over the new year.
Announcing the birth of their son, his spokesperson said: ‘The Prime Minister and Ms Symonds are thrilled to announce the birth of a healthy baby boy at a London hospital earlier this morning. Both mother and baby are doing very well. The PM and Ms Symonds would like to thank the fantastic NHS maternity team.’
Ms Symonds gave birth to a ‘healthy’ baby boy at an NHS hospital in London today – weeks earlier than anticipated (seen here on March 7)
No 10 have not revealed the hospital they went to – although St Thomas’, where Mr Johnson was in intensive care this month, is the closest to Downing Street. It was previously reported that Carrie had wanted a home birth but these have largely suspended by the NHS because of coronavirus.
Boris Johnson’s is set to delay his paternity leave as he scrambles to get a grip on the coronavirus crisis, it was revealed today.
The PM previously said he would ‘almost certainly’ take time off when fiancee Carrie Symonds gave birth.
But Downing Street has signalled that Mr Johnson will not go on leave until later in the year, with the country currently in the throes of the deadly disease outbreak.
There were concerns over a power vacuum when Mr Johnson was hospitalised, and then spent two weeks recuperating at Chequers.
The birth came after an extraordinary month for the couple, who were self-isolating separately, first because of Carrie’s pregnancy and then when Boris fell ill.
Mr Johnson then spent a week in hospital, including three days in intensive care, and Miss Symonds was also briefly bedridden with symptoms of Covid-19, but had made a full recovery. They were only reunited last week at Chequers.
Messages of support poured in from across politics for Mr Johnson and fiancee Carrie Symonds this morning after their baby boy’s birth was announced, including from new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
After the news broke this morning, Sir Keir tweeted: ‘Wonderful news. Many congratulations to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds.’
Adding his own best wishes Mr Cameron, whose wife Sam had daughter Florence in 2010, tweeted: ‘Heartfelt congratulations to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds on your wonderful news today.
‘Sam and I are thrilled for you both! Sorry we didn’t leave the cot – but the climbing frame should still be in the garden!
Mr Johnson’s Tory colleagues were also quick to join in, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeting: ‘So thrilled for Boris and Carrie. Wonderful to have a moment of unalloyed joy!’