Boris Allies Say Criticism of Carrie Should be ‘Off Limits’

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 06: Carrie Johnson greets her husband Boris Johnson before
Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
Nathaniel Charles

Boris Johnson’s allies have suggested that criticism of his wife’s alleged involvement in government should be “off limits”, despite Carrie Johnson’s history as a political activist in the Conservative Party and multiple reports claiming she is anything but a neutral spouse.

Fresh allegations have emerged from Lord Michael Ashcroft’s latest biography that accuses Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie Johnson — née Symonds — of having an undue influence over Downing Street, including whispering prompts in Boris’ ear during important phone calls.

However, despite the mounting claims which have dogged the government for months, the Johnsons and their allies have denied claims that Carrie is involved in governance, with some suggesting she should be immune from criticism as the Prime Minister’s wife.

Ashcroft, the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, in his book First Lady: Intrigue At The Court Of Carrie And Boris Johnson also included testimonies from staffers that alleged Symonds would send “text messages” from Boris Johnson’s own phone to his team during his 2019 leadership election campaign, the Daily Mail reports.

A 2019 campaign insider included in Ashcroft’s book said: “So a text message would appear saying, for example, that there was a particular MP whose support we didn’t need or want. We realised Boris couldn’t have written the message because, the next day, Boris would contradict this”.

A spokesperson for Mrs Johnson however disputed this and said, “This is just the latest attempt by bitter ex-officials to discredit her. She is a private individual who plays no role in government”.
The book also claims that Carrie was instrumental in the sacking of one of Boris’s special advisors, Ellie Lyons, who was dubbed the “the sexy spad”. Symonds was accused of forcing Johnson to fire Lyons for being “too attractive and intelligent”, with the implication Johnson, who has had multiple affairs, would leave Symonds for her.

Carrie’s spokesperson again has challenged the authenticity of these claims and branded them as “vile fabrications”.

Ashcroft alleges in his book that Carrie is “preventing him [Boris Johnson] from leading Britain as effectively as the voters deserve”, because of her alleged meddling in governance.
Carrie has also previously been accused by conservative pundits of being an “unaccountable woke maniac“, who is behind the Conservatives’ ‘Net Zero’ agenda.

Key Johnson allies have, however, rallied behind Carrie, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid agreeing in a BBC interview that political criticisms of Carrie are “sexist”, “misogynistic” and should be “off limits”.

Javid branded the claims as “very undignified and very unfair”, and instead encouraged critics to “talk about the prime minister, politicians and advisers around him”. Javid did not however acknowledge that Carrie was not simply the Prime Minister’s wife, but is a successful political operator in her own right and has previously worked as a strategist for the Conservative Party.

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne also came to Johnson’s aid and said the “successes”, “flaws” and “faults” of Johnson’s government “are the responsibility of Boris, not his wife Carrie”.

Osbourne like Javid also indicated any criticism of Carrie was misogynist, saying: “Let’s move on from this misogynistic Lady Macbeth nonsense”.

Ben Harris-Quinney, the Chairman of Britain’s oldest Conservative think tank the Bow Group, has been a long-standing critic of Carrie’s “nefarious” influence over the Conservative party, which long predates her marriage to the PM, and when speaking to Breitbart London labelled her “reported role in senior government” as a “great concern to the public”.

Harris-Quinney rejected the allegations of sexism from Johnson’s allies around the criticism of Carrie.

“It is not a question of sexism, or even primarily politics, but a question of law. Much of what has been consistently reported about Carrie Symonds/Johnson’s role in government by multiple senior sources is both illegal and unconstitutional”, Harris-Quinney said.

“If policy decisions have been changed, if taxpayers money has been misappropriated, if judges & ethical watchdogs have been leant upon, if classified information has been accessed, and if staffing decisions have been made by her, rather than by elected or appointed officials, then the law has been broken. That is to say nothing of her hosting and attending illegal parties”, he continued.

The Bow Group’s Chair also rubbished claims Carrie “cannot speak out” against criticism, suggesting she has “the power of government & many friends in the media to do her bidding”, as well as pointing out that “there is no legal constraint on her speaking out, and she clearly regularly does via press statements and contacts”.

Harris-Quinney called for a “judge-led inquiry into the extent of” Carrie’s “interference in government”, based “upon the wealth of reports that now exist”, and called for her and “her ideas” to be “removed from Downing Street and from access to all levers of power”.

“…the British sense of fair play is enraged by someone governing our country without election or accountability”, Harris-Quinney concluded.

Speaking to Breitbart London Joseph Robertson, the Director of Orthodox Conservatives Group, suggested Symonds should be open to criticism as “the reality is although Carrie may be Mrs Johnson now, she is far from immune to political scrutiny”.

“As one of the chief operators in the bureaucracy of CCHQ, she is a perfect example of why Johnson needs to overhaul and adapt the current Tory set up if he wants to reconnect with a genuinely conservative membership”, Robertson continued.

Robertson predicted that Boris could be facing a “leadership challenge that could well be titled a referendum on Carrie”.

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