‘No, you can’t take any photos, but we do have croissants’

Ollie Kemp went to Ramsgate to cover the the PM’S visit, and found out just how much journalists are allowed to see...

The prospect of a public appearance must surely be more uncomfortable than ever for Boris Johnson. In the wake of multiple Downing Street party revelations over the past few weeks, not a single press briefing has gone by without the Prime Minister being asked whether a government which refuses to lead by example should even be in power.

Just hours before appearing at the Saga building vaccination centre in Ramsgate, he was deflecting those exact questions in a televised Covid-19 news briefing.

His response to one reporter on the subject of his waning public trust was: “I follow the rules. Everybody across politics should follow the rules.”

It’s a response that many would scoff at, particularly in the wake of a stream of revelations about illegal Christmas gatherings at Downing Street last December.

But the PM doubled down on his push for more people to take up the booster as he wandered around the Thanet vaccine centre speaking with staff and clinical professionals – at least that’s what I was told by his press officer.

Thinking I was going to be able to film the Prime Minister making his appearance on Thursday morning, I lugged a huge camera kit along to capture the moment.

Butonmyarrivaliwas instead ushered into a small side room with two other reporters, complete with plates of pastries and lukewarm orange juice.

When I tried to get out and see Mr Johnson interacting with staff at the vaccine centre, I was told by a visibly stressed press officer that I would not be allowed to see him until a specific allotted time.

“Are you sure I couldn’t just take a picture?”

The answer was a firm “no”, but she added apologetically: “We do have croissants.”

There was an intense air of stage management about the entire experience. Instead of allowing reporters to see Mr Johnson interacting with people – surely the reason why these ‘events’ are organised in the first place – I had to take it on face value from a member of his team that he was indeed interacting with the public.

Meanwhile, I sat there staring at the plate of pastries, waiting for an opportunity to get visual confirmation he had actually turned up.

Another reporter in the room said to me: “It’s a bit like waiting to see the headmaster, isn’t it?”

After nearly half an hour in the small room, the press officer finally returned to round us up and herd us into another part of the building.

Mr Johnson finally entered and was ushered to a table, flanked by two members of his team who were both furiously typing on their smartphones.

He greeted the three of us with his signature elbow bumps and we were asked to stand on the other side of the table for the interview.

Before we could utter the first question, the PM said: “Would you mind awfully if I took my mask off ?”

Upon removing the face covering, his staff member next to him pointed at his mask and said he should put it back on.

“Oh right, OK,” he murmured, quickly reattaching it.

Press interviews like this are a short, sharp shock that tend to be over as quickly as they begin.

Each reporter is bursting to get their own questions across before the timer runs out.

In this instance, the timer consisted of his press officer slowly rotating his finger in the air any time a question was longer than 10 seconds.

Towards the end of the 10 minutes allotted to us, the finger rotated more and more quickly as the impatience grew.

And just like that, it was over.

But before Mr Johnson was rushed out the open door and back to Downing Street, we asked one last time if we could get a photo.

“Of course!” he exclaimed, then asked if we wanted a photo with him too (above).

Standing in a line as a member of his staff took the pictures, Mr Johnson put his hands in the air and shouted “Kent journalism!”, before mumbling something I couldn’t quite catch through his face mask.

He thanked us and was gone 30 seconds later.

It is understandable in many ways that these events would be meticulously managed – let us not forget the interviewee in question holds one of the most important jobs in the world.

But it makes one wonder whether the intense stage management, the inability to take photos and the swiftness of the interview comes off the back of a series of embarrassing and difficult moments for the Prime Minister.

After he had left us for dust, I asked a people queueing for their booster what they thought of his appearance.

One man had little positive to say.

“I mean he’s a Prime Minister who couldn’t even give a straight answer to how many children he’s got,” he said. “So I don’t know how people thought he would be any better when he actually got in to office.”