Dilyn is a dog which lived with former UK Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

and his wife

Carrie Carrie may refer to: People * Carrie (name), a female given name and occasionally a surname Places in the United States * Carrie, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Carrie, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carrie Glacier, Olympic Nati ...

during their time at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

. He is a white, male Jack Russell

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and was born in 2018. The dog was

rescued "Rescued" is a song by American Rock music, rock band Foo Fighters. Released on April 19, 2023, it is the first single by the band since the death of longtime drummer, Taylor Hawkins, and the first from their eleventh studio album, ''But Here We Ar ...

as a puppy from a breeder in

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

by Friends of Animals Wales because he had a misaligned jaw and was going to be put down. The charity gave initial care to the puppy and named it "Dilyn", the Welsh word for "follow", in memory of a

spaniel A spaniel is a type of gun dog. Spaniels were especially bred to flush game out of denser brush. By the late 17th century, spaniels had been specialized into water and land breeds. The extinct English Water Spaniel was used to retrieve water ...

which had recently died. The puppy was then fostered in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

for a few weeks before being adopted by Johnson and Symonds in 2019. The couple were introduced to the charity by Marc Abraham, the vet who successfully campaigned for " Lucy's Law", regulations prohibiting third-party commercial sale of puppies. He formerly resided in the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

's flat in the complex of 10–12

Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk ...

; Boris Johnson would take him for a walk early each morning in the garden of Number 10. The neighbouring former chancellor,

Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer f ...

, watched out for Dilyn as he displayed "amorous intentions" towards his own

cavapoo This is a list of common dog crossbreeds. These are crossbreed dogs created deliberately by crossing two purebred dogs. Some are known as designer dogs and are bred as companion dogs, often given portmanteau names derived from those of the paren ...

, Bailey. On voting day for the

2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 4 ...

, Boris Johnson took Dilyn to his

polling station A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building

and so he became one of the many

dogs at polling stations Dogs at polling stations or #dogsatpollingstations is a popular hashtag and Internet meme on social media during an election in the UK and other countries such as Australia. Typically, the dogs are photographed waiting for their owners outs ...

. After Johnson's victory, many newspapers around the world pictured him with Dilyn. These included Brazil's ''

Correio Braziliense The ''Correio Braziliense'' (meaning ''Brazilian Mail'' in English) is a daily newspaper in Brazil. The paper was first published on 21 April 1960. Its founder is Assis Chateaubriand. The paper has its headquarters in Brasília. The name came f ...

, ''Germany's ''

Bild ''Bild'' (or ''Bild-Zeitung'', ; ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper ''Bild am Sonntag'' ("''Bild on Sunday''") is published instead, which ...

'', Italy's ''

la Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnoldo ...

'', and the US ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', which had the headline "Conservatives Lick Labour" over a picture of Dilyn showing his tongue.

Behavioural issues and controversy

There have been multiple accusations in the British press surrounding the PM's behaviour during Dilyn's tenure at Number 10. These include misuse of public funds, engagement in a turf war with factional civil service teams and the destruction of priceless historical artifacts. Boris Johnson has admitted bad behaviour on behalf of the dog, claiming "my dog is endless... on people's legs".

References

2018 animal births Boris Johnson Dogs in the United Kingdom Individual dogs in politics Individual animals in the United Kingdom {{dog-stub

Behavioural issues and controversy

See also

References