Oh dear. Since Dilyn the dog entered 10 Downing Street in 2019, the rescue puppy has fallen victim to a number of brutal briefings. First, it was reported that he was rather unpopular in the building on account of his noisy antics — a claim furiously denied by Boris Johnson’s fiance Carrie Symonds. Then after the Vote Leave faction departed No. 10, Dominic Cummings wrote in The Spectator on the problem with politicians who focus more on ‘gossip-column stories about their dogs’ than on ‘issues of existential importance’.
Now Dilyn is in the news once again. In a series of photographs entitled ‘Dilyn in the Snow’, the Downing Street pup is captured in a range of poses — from standing in the snow to playing with a frosty stick. The problem? As delightful as the photos may be, they appear on the official Downing Street Flickr photo account and the photo has been taken by one of three taxpayer-funded photographers.
Following criticism over whether this is a good use of taxpayer’s money, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson was asked today why a taxpayer-funded photographer took photos of Dilyn the dog. The reply? ‘They document the work of not just the PM but the whole of the cabinet’.
Rather than being sent to the doghouse, it seems the pooch is being lined up for greatness. Dilyn for Education Secretary?
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