Boris Johnson had a “routine” operation in hospital on Monday morning, No.10 has announced.
Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, is currently in charge of taking any “urgent decisions” should they need to be made while the PM recovers.
The PM’s spokesperson said: “The prime minister this morning had a very minor routine operation related to his sinuses.
“He went to hospital around 6am and the operation was carried out first thing this morning. He was back in Downing Street shortly after 10am.”
Johnson was put under general anaesthetic “very briefly” while the procedure took place.
The PM is expected to be back running the country on Tuesday, No.10 said.
Downing Street said the operation was long planned and both Raab and cabinet secretary Simon Case knew about it in advance.
The deputy prime minister also took charge in April 2020, when Johnson was hospitalised with Covid.