Written by Mark Landler and Stephen Castle
Of all of the unsavory moral questions swirling round Prime Minister Boris Johnson nowadays, the one which has caught is how he paid for the expensive makeover of his residence in Downing Street. And it has put his 33-year-old fiancée, Carrie Symonds, below a very scorching highlight.
Johnson, 56, has been accused in information experiences of secretly utilizing funds from a Conservative Party donor to complement his public funds for redecorating the residence — a cost that, though Johnson says he has repaid the cash, has prompted an investigation by Britain’s Electoral Commission. But it’s Symonds and her purportedly costly style in wallpaper and designer furnishings that has develop into a operating theme on social media and in British tabloids.
“#CarrieAntoinette” is trending as a Twitter hashtag, whereas the chief of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, had himself photographed finding out wallpaper on the British division retailer John Lewis — a labored stunt meant to make gentle of experiences that Symonds derided the Downing Street décor left by Johnson’s no-nonsense predecessor, Theresa May, as a “John Lewis furniture nightmare.”
Never thoughts that Symonds has not truly been quoted saying something about John Lewis. The reference, in a profile of her in Tatler journal, is attributed to an unnamed one who as soon as visited her within the residence. Tatler reported that Symonds oversaw the renovation venture, and her involvement means she, too, could have to show over proof to the Electoral Commission.
For Symonds, a former Conservative Party communications chief who now works for an animal rights group, it’s the newest trial in a 12 months overstuffed with dramatics: the near-fatal sickness of Johnson after he contracted the coronavirus; the delivery of their son, Wilfred; and the bitter purging of Johnson’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, by which she is reported to have performed a behind-the-scenes function.
It all has put Symonds on the coronary heart of a well-known narrative, one replete with sexism and double requirements: the greedy, manipulative politician’s companion. She joins a parade of girls, from Hillary Clinton to Cherie Blair, spouse of Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose murmurings to their males have been the topic of fevered suspicion.
The info that her relationship with Johnson coincided with the breakup of his 25-year marriage and that she grew to become the primary single companion to maneuver into Downing Street solely add to Symonds’ tabloid portrayal as a libertine Lady Macbeth or an upwardly cell Marie Antoinette — select your cliché.
“The outsized fascination with Carrie Symonds’ role in the prime minister’s circle reflects outdated sexist tropes that regard women in positions of influence as inherently devious,” mentioned Sophia Gaston, director of the British Foreign Policy Group and a analysis fellow on the London School of Economics.
Her defenders say that as an achieved political participant in her personal proper, Symonds has no much less proper to supply recommendation to the prime minister than another unpaid adviser — and he can be sensible to take it.
And but, others say, there are respectable inquiries to ask about Symonds’ affect, which fits past the information media’s obsessive deal with dwelling enhancements at Downing Street. Her ardent protection of animal rights was reported to have contributed to the federal government’s resolution to halt a cull of badgers in Derbyshire, which contradicted the recommendation of scientists and veterinarians.
Friends of Symonds have been put in in key positions in Downing Street and, within the telling of Cummings, protected by her even after proof of wrongdoing. On his weblog, he claimed that Johnson wished to close down a leak investigation after it grew to become clear that the perpetrator was Henry Newman, an in depth adviser to Symonds.
Cummings quoted Johnson as saying to him, “If Newman is confirmed as the leaker, then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie, as they’re best friends.”
Downing Street has denied that Johnson tried to close down the investigation, nevertheless it didn’t remark about Symonds’ function.
Her defenders say she has a savvy political sense and will properly have aspired to a seat in Parliament if she hadn’t begun a relationship with Johnson. To the extent that she is giving him recommendation, some say, it’s useful: Cutting unfastened Cummings and different hard-core Brexiteers softened the prime minister’s picture and improved his reputation earlier than the current ethics points pulled him again to his extra acquainted function as a political scalawag.
Symonds labors below just a few handicaps, one in all which is the dearth of a job description for a first-rate minister’s companion. The function has no constitutional standing, and in contrast to that of first woman within the United States, little administrative assist. Successful spouses have normally had robust identities outdoors Downing Street.
Margaret Thatcher’s husband, Denis, was a businessman, as is May’s husband, Philip. David Cameron’s spouse, Samantha, ran a vogue firm, whereas Cherie Blair, who as soon as had her personal political ambitions, labored as a high-level barrister throughout her husband’s decade in workplace. Although Cherie Blair’s affect got here below criticism early on, the scrutiny subsided as she constructed a flourishing authorized profession.
“She always knew she could go back to her job at the bar, which made it less demeaning to be the appendage,” mentioned Fiona Millar, a journalist and onetime aide to Cherie Blair. Symonds, she mentioned, “doesn’t seem to have that life outside politics, which the people who’ve been successful at it did have.”
The daughter of Matthew Symonds, a co-founder of The Independent newspaper, and a lawyer for the paper, Josephine McAfee, Carrie Symonds was raised by her mom. (Both dad and mom have been married to different individuals on the time.)
Her younger maturity was deeply affected by an incident in 2007 when she was focused by a taxi driver who served her spiked drinks whereas driving her dwelling. Carrie Symonds testified in opposition to the person, John Worboys, who was jailed as a serial sexual predator.
Well related and social, Symonds grew to become a public relations aide for the Conservative Party, finally rising to chief communications officer, the place she encountered Johnson. The couple had hoped to get married final summer time, after his divorce from Marina Wheeler grew to become ultimate, however delayed the date due to coronavirus restrictions.
Life in Downing Street is much less glamorous than it would seem, Millar mentioned. While the job comes with a spacious Westminster residence, a baronial weekend dwelling, Chequers, and an annual adorning funds of 30,000 kilos ($41,600), the federal government doesn’t pay for meals or family workers. Outside of public events, the couple are anticipated to prepare dinner for themselves or get takeout.
Political commentators say they see Symonds’ fingerprints in Johnson’s embrace of inexperienced insurance policies. They say she has performed to his pragmatic instincts by nudging him towards a extra conciliatory politics.
Some of the uneasiness about Symonds is as a lot about Johnson as her. With few mounted positions and an absence of ideological moorings, he leaves the impression that his selections might be swayed by these with biggest entry to him. During a 12 months of lockdowns, that circle generally shrank to Symonds.
“The reason we’re fussing over this is that we think we have an inadequate figure as prime minister,” mentioned Jill Rutter, a former civil servant who’s a senior analysis fellow on the U.Okay. in a Changing Europe, a London assume tank. “If we thought we had a really good prime minister, would we really care who his spouse is, beyond hoping he has a happy personal life?”