Cleo Watson is a British author and former special adviser to

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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

Education

Watson attended

Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls was a boarding and day private school in Monmouth, Wales. Established by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in 1892, in June 2022 the Haberdashers began a consultation on proposals to merge the school ...

. She grew up in

Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye, or simply Hay (; or simply ), is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as a book town, "town of books"; it is both the National Book Town of Wales and the s ...

and studied politics and economics at

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

Career

In 2012, Watson interned for the

Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign On April 4, 2011, Barack Obama, the List of presidents of the United States, 44th president of the United States, announced his candidacy for re-election as president. On September 5, 2012, he again became the nominee of the Democratic Party ...

. She joined

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

in 2019 as an ally of

Dominic Cummings Dominic Mckenzie Cummings (born 25 November 1971) is a British political strategist who served as Chief Adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 24 July 2019 until he resigned on 13 November 2020. From 2007 to 2014, he was a speci ...

and a former employee at

Vote Leave Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leavi ...

. She described working for

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

as being a like a "nanny" to him. She was fined after the

Partygate Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about gatherings of Government of the United Kingdom, government and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 pandem ...

scandal. Following the

Sue Gray report Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about gatherings of government and Conservative Party staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public health restrictions prohibited most gatherings. The scandal contr ...

it emerged that Watson had organised the event. In November 2020, she left Downing Street alongside

and

Lee Cain Lee Edward Cain (born 1981) is a British public relations professional and former journalist who served as Downing Street Director of Communications under Boris Johnson from July 2019 until the end of 2020. Education Cain attended Ormskirk Gr ...

. In September 2022, she was a panellist on the debut episode of '' Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg'' on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. Watson is an author of two books. In 2024, she described Johnson as "quiet, bookish and, occasionally, extremely nasty".

Personal life

Watson's sister Annabel worked as chief of staff for

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

from 2006 and 2010 when she was

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons The Shadow Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for working with the Leader of the House of Commons, Leader of the House in arrangi ...

and Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary.

In popular culture

Watson was portrayed by

Naomi Battrick Naomi Faye Battrick (born 11 April 1991) is an English actress. Career Battrick was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire. Her first television appearance was in a guest role on ''The Bill'' as Miranda Roscoe. She subsequently won the part of 15- ...

in the Channel 4 drama ''

''. She was portrayed by

Greta Bellamacina Greta Rosanna Bellamacina (born 16 September 1990) is a British actress, poet and filmmaker. Early life Bellamacina was born in Hampstead, London, England, and raised in London Borough of Camden, Camden. She attended Royal Academy of Dramatic ...

in the

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group, Sky Group Limited that launched in 2011 and broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel airs original British-produced dramas like ''Fortitude (TV series), F ...

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

''This England''.

Bibliography

* ''Whips'' (2022) * ''Cleavage'' (2024)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Cleo Living people British special advisers 21st-century British women British women writers Alumni of Cardiff University People educated at Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls Year of birth missing (living people) Partygate scandal