Boris Johnson’s campaign team was directly involved in a press complaint made on behalf of the mother of the sick child who was pictured sleeping on a Leeds hospital floor because there was no bed for him, BuzzFeed News has learned.



According to a source, health secretary Matt Hancock spoke to the mother, who expressed distress around the continuing news coverage of the photo of her son.

A senior Johnson campaign aide lodged an official complaint in the mother’s name with IPSO, a voluntary press regulator, which issued private guidance on Wednesday asking the news outlets it covers to stop using the photograph.

The campaign aide then contacted the BBC and broadcast regulator Ofcom to tell them about the IPSO complaint in an attempt to stop broadcasters from using the image too.

There’s nothing to suggest Johnson’s campaign was not carrying out the wishes of the mother, but the fact that a senior aide directly intervened in an attempt to stop news organisations using an image that seriously damaged the Conservative leader has raised questions about their motives.