Boris Johnson dons Father Christmas go well with in determined bid to shift copies of his ebook

Boris Johnson got into the festive spirit by dressing up as Father Christmas – in a shameless attempt to shift more copies of his book.

The scandal-hit former PM has been touting his memoir ‘Unleashed’, which was published in October to mixed reviews. The book attempts to rehabilitate his image after he was ousted from No10 by his own MPs in 2022, digging into his political career, from his time as London Mayor to leading the country during the pandemic.

The publicity blitz has been a tad unconventional – including a weird meeting with Argentina’s Javier Milei, where he reportedly promised to introduce the maverick leader to Mick Jagger. And in his latest efforts Mr Johnson dons a Santa suit for a cringe clip to try to persuade people to buy the tome.

Sat beside a fire alongside his dog Dilyn, he says: “Ho, ho, ho. There’s no one so naughty that they don’t deserve a copy of ‘Unleashed’ this Christmas. Is there Dilyn?” He then barks at the dog, which is trying to snooze in an armchair.

Brandishing a copy of his book, he adds: “Unleashed! There’s still time to buy it online or in the bookshops and make sure they are unwrapping Unleashed this Christmas.”

In the book, Mr Johnson rowed back on his apology over the Partygate scandal, saying it was a “mistake” to offer “pathetic” and “grovelling” statements over lockdown-busting bashes and claiming it “made it look as though we were far more culpable than we were”.

This comes despite the fact he was handed a police fine for attending a surprise birthday do in Downing Street in June 2020. He also quit as an MP in a fury as the Privileges Committee was poised to hand him a whopping 90-day suspension for misleading Parliament over the scandal.

Mr Johnson also claimed in the book that he considered mounting an “aquatic raid” on a Dutch warehouse to seize Covid vaccines at the height of the pandemic in March 2021. The suggestion was met with scepticism by former ministers.

He also claimed Queen Elizabeth died of bone cancer and recalled she was pale with bruising on her hands during their final meeting. Breaking with convention, he disclosed the advice she gave him as he stepped down as PM.

He said: “She was surprised by the general lack of bitterness, given what had happened at Westminster, but she approved. ‘There’s no point in bitterness,’ she said, and amen to that. If everyone in politics – and life – could see that as clearly as she did, the world would be a much, much happier place.”

Mr Johnson said he had been encouraged to give Prince Harry a “manly pep talk” to persuade him not to leave Britain with his wife Meghan – but admitted it was “totally hopeless”.

He also took swipes at Keir Starmer, who he said an “irritable face” that was “like a bullock having a thermometer unexpectedly shoved in its rectum”, and French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he branded a “positive nuisance”.