Boris Johnson: Story of Iraq visit which caused 'diplomatic headache' re-shared after appointment as Foreign Secretary

After his unexpected appointment in Theresa May's cabinet

Newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson leaves his home in north London (AP)

Boris Johnson’s political appointment has certainly raised some eyebrows.

The outgoing and outspoken former Mayor of London surprised everyone when he announced his decision not to run in the Tory leadership race. In an even more surprising development, he was announced as the new Foreign Secretary by Theresa May on Thursday evening.

His unexpected role has led to some “reminding” social media of a chaotic-sounding visit to Iraq in January 2015 which was revealed in diplomatic correspondence between civil servants and his office released following a freedom of information request.

A hotel bar bill had to be settled by Foreign Office staff, Mr Johnson asked for access to the ‘frontline’ of fighting in Erbil, which was denied, and went to drive a car out of a showroom before being stopped by staff, according to the correspondence.

One email read: “In case anyone gets alarmed by the attached article, while it is true that the Mayor got behind the wheel of a [REDACTED] in the showroom, drove out of the door and onto the driveway, quick action by his PPO and me ensured he did NOT drive off.”

At the time, a spokesperson for Mr Johnson told the FT he had “always intended to settle what was a private drinks bill but an administrative oversight meant that the bill was not settled on his departure. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office brought this to the attention of the mayor’s office soon afterwards and the mayor personally paid the bill immediately”.