Boris Johnson is missing a rare chance to shine while Carrie Symonds remains in the shadows

No prime minister has ever cohabited with a partner rather than a spouse. Seeing Johnson and Symonds enter No 10 together would be a genuinely optimistic moment in a leadership likely to be anything but

We all watched the moment the country has anticipated (many with dread) for the past month; confirmation that the mop-headed, zip-line swinging, Brexiteer buffoon Boris Johnson would be announced as our next prime minister, dragging us feet first out of the European Union if required – and taking us back 46 years in the process. And while we watched, there was a notable absence in the crowd.

Johnson’s girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, was nowhere to be seen while her partner listened to the news he has waited for all his life. Jeremy Hunt, meanwhile, sat hand-in-hand with his wife, businesswoman Lucia Guo.

Speculation is swirling about whether Johnson and Symonds have decided that he will enter Downing Street on Thursday solo – with the PR hot shot moving in by herself at the weekend.

The latest reports suggest Boris will stand alone at the glossy black door to pose for the press. It is usually a set-piece moment, constructed to portray the image of a trustworthy politician, loved by and devoted to family as an emblem of the country itself.

But there is a distinct possibility that what the British public will now see, instead of the usual formality, is a man content to allow his partner, and apparent equal, to sneak in the backdoor like a mistress in the shadows. Admittedly, no one’s expecting Boris to make all his children gather on the steps of No 10 but, as the couple discuss how the moment will play out, one thing is for sure: Symonds should be there.

No prime minister in British history has cohabited with a partner rather than a spouse. Seeing Johnson and Symonds enter together would be a truly optimistic moment in a leadership that seems likely to be anything but. If we are to get a First Girlfriend confined to the background, what a disappointing precedent that would set.

Maybe the fear is that the party members who have delivered Johnson his landslide consider Symonds not to have legitimate status because Johnson hasn’t “put a ring on it”. It harks back to royal mistresses being someone everyone knows but who doesn’t have the keys to the house. But the era of Charles II and Nell Gwynn are thankfully long behind us, so why the furtiveness?

If Symonds isn’t standing beside Johnson as he enters office, can we assume she also won’t be joining him on the drive to see the Queen when he asks for permission to form a new government as Phillip did with Theresa May and as Samantha Cameron did before him?

Johnson might not yet be divorced from his wife of 25 years, Marina Wheeler, but his relationship with Symonds is well established. They’ve been together for a significant time (although exactly how long remains unknown) and reports suggest they share a mortgage on a property together.

It may well be that the plan is of Symonds’ own making. She is the communications expert after all. She might be determined to stay out of the limelight, keep the focus on the PM and the PM alone; keep Boris’ private life private. The problem is that this is a privilege that cannot be afforded to the prime minister – which they both undoubtedly know to be true.

At its heart this looks like it will be a missed opportunity. Today’s announcement could have included the image of a prime minister in waiting sharing the defining moment with his cohabiting partner.

This week could still be a chance to strike a blow for modernity, for the new PM to conjure up the moral courage and stare down any lingering small “c” conservatism about “traditional” relationships in politics. Thus far, Johnson and Symonds appear infuriatingly timid on what looks like the simplest of progressive gestures, and at precisely the time that Johnson claims he wants to “unite” and “energise” Britain.