The father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who supports Brexit, has obtained French citizenship after applying last year, according to a French Ministry of Justice source on Thursday.
Stanley Johnson, a Conservative who had worked for the European Commission in Brussels, initially opposed Brexit, but later changed his mind after his son’s narrow referendum victory in 2016.
The elder Johnson has a strong connection to France thanks to his French mother, and he speaks the language effectively.
The 81-year-old applied for citizenship at the French consulate in London in November of last year, with the justice ministry’s six-month deadline to object expiring on Wednesday.
“Based on the facts in his application, and without a refusal by the justice minister, Mr Stanley Johnson acquired French nationality on May 18, 2022,” the ministry said.
“This decision concerns only Mr Stanley Johnson and does not extend to his descendants,” the ministry added.
“I’ll always be European, that’s for sure,” Stanley Johnson told RTL radio in French in a December 2020 interview.
He had faced criticism at home for his intentions, which were published at the same time that most Britons lost their right to freely travel across the EU when a post-Brexit “transition period” expired.
“It’s not a question of becoming French. If I understand correctly I am French. My mother was born in France, her mother was completely French, as was her grandfather,” Stanley Johnson said.
“For me it’s a question of obtaining what I already have and I am very happy about that,” he added.
Normally, French law prohibits offspring of French nationals from claiming nationality if their family has been abroad for more than 50 years without exercising their rights.
However, if they can demonstrate “concrete relations of a cultural, professional, economic, or family character” with France — a phrase Stanley used in his application – their petitions will be reviewed.
According to the most recent Eurostat numbers, approximately 3,100 British citizens got French nationality in 2020.
After Germany, France was the second-most popular choice for obtaining European citizenship.
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