The mobile phone number of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been available online for fifteen years.
A press release from the time when the now-Prime Minister was still shadow higher education minister has been available online from 2006 through 2021, according to reports.
Downing Street has declined to comment on the story, first revealed on the Popbitch gossip website.
The number was reportedly responding with an automated message saying the phone was “switched off”.
Previously, the Daily Telegraph reported that civil servant Simon Case had suggested that Boris Johnson should change his phone number because it was too widely known. No 10, however, denied these reports.
The availability of the Prime Minister’s number has implications for security, lobbying, and the risk of blackmail, Labour MP Rachel Hopkins said.
Additionally, the Times previously reported that a Universal Credit claimant managed to reach the PM directly "asking for help with their benefit claim" after they got his number from a friend.