Boris Johnson presented with books by hero Churchill as farewell gift at final cabinet meeting

Departing PM applauded by ministers for ‘service to country’

(Andrew Parsons / No10 Downing Street)

Boris Johnson was presented with a set of books by his hero Winston Churchill as a farewell present from ministerial colleagues as he chaired his final cabinet meeting today.

Cabinet ministers – who paid for the first edition copies of Churchill’s six-volume history of the Second World War out of their own pockets – applauded the PM as he concluded the weekly meeting for the last time.

Addressing ministers on the first anniversary of the lifting of Covid restrictions, Mr Johnson set out what he clearly hopes will be seen as his legacy as PM, stating that the swift rollout of vaccines and early move out of lockdown had allowed the UK’s economy to recover faster than other countries.