Carrie Symonds’s marriage and a baby were always non-negotiable

It was almost four months ago that Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared that a General Election win for the Tories – and a green light for his Brexit deal – would provoke a baby boom similar to the one seen after the London 2012 Olympics.

‘Cupid’s darts will fly once we get Brexit done,’ he rhapsodised. ‘Romance will bloom across the whole nation.’

And, indeed, it has now come to pass – at least, behind the doors of No 10.

The official announcement brings to an end weeks of speculation. 

Marriage rumours, and the suggestion that Ms Symonds was pregnant, have been an open secret in Westminster circles for the last few months.

It was noticed that Carrie had spent only a short amount of time at the boozy Brexit celebrations on January 31. 

Pictures from Election night on December 12 appeared to show her with a bottle of beer – but not drinking from it – and the pair are said to have spent a quiet Christmas Day together with their mothers and their Jack Russell cross, Dilyn, in the Downing Street flat before entertaining friends in the evening.

She had been keeping an increasingly low profile in London and the Prime Minister, too, had notably been spending more time at Chequers and country retreat Chevening. 

Then, Carrie seemed to disappear completely when she went on an extended business trip to the States, sending the rumour mill into overdrive.

Snatched photographs of Carrie arriving at Downing Street in recent days via a back entrance, with what seemed to be a fuller figure, did nothing to dampen the speculation.

Despite yesterday’s carefully orchestrated announcement, the cat was very nearly let out of the bag by Boris’s father Stanley.

In the March edition of Saga magazine, which is already available, Stanley – the issue’s cover star – told the publication how much he enjoyed his grandchildren and hinted that there may be ‘more on the way’.

Political observers, meanwhile, have been primed for a significant media announcement since Carrie hired a personal spin doctor, Sarah Vaughan-Brown, a close friend of the couple, just a few days ago.

The timing appears to have been deliberately planned to come after Johnson’s divorce from his estranged wife, barrister Marina Wheeler – mother of four of his children – was finalised.

The couple, who were married for 27 years, reached a private agreement ten days ago in a short court hearing. The couple’s assets are thought to include £3.35 million in proceeds from the sale of the London townhouse they once shared.

It was considered then that this could pave the way for a potential marriage to Carrie, speculation which Boris has always insisted was ‘a tiny bit premature’. But friends have always claimed that he would propose after his divorce went through.

And, indeed, according to sources close to the couple, marriage and a baby was ‘non-negotiable’ for Carrie. ‘That is what she has always wanted, a condition of their relationship, almost. 

And he was happy to oblige,’ a source told The Mail on Sunday. Mr Johnson’s romance with Carrie – who he calls Apples – the bubbly and gregarious former Conservative director of communications, first emerged after they were photographed together at the party’s fundraising Black and White Ball in London in February 2018.

Just a week later, the pair were spotted enjoying an intimate dinner at a corner table of the capital’s oldest restaurant, Rules.

One onlooker described how it seemed ‘hardly anything to do with any great matters of the state’, adding: ‘It seemed quite strange for him to be meeting a young attractive woman for a meal in one of London’s most exclusive restaurants.’ 

Privately educated Carrie, a high profile figure in Westminster circles for over a decade, is understood to have first met Boris when she was working as an aide to Culture Minister John Whittingdale in 2011.

She is said to have been blown away by his charisma, and they forged a close friendship despite the 24-year age gap and the fact that Boris was then married with four children and had another daughter as a result of an extra-marital affair. 

But friends insist their relationship did not begin until after he and Ms Wheeler separated.

Blonde, charming and ‘waspishly gossipy’, Ms Symonds had been known as the life and soul of the party who posted glamorous pictures of herself on social media, including one photograph of her striking a pose while standing on the bonnet of a car in the grounds of Parliament.

Her swanky 30th birthday party in March 2018 at a friend’s North London home was attended by a slew of older Cabinet Ministers, including then Environment Secretary Michael Gove and then Home Secretary Sajid Javid, with Boris – who at the time was Foreign Secretary – performing a selection of flamboyant dance moves.

But she ruffled feathers in Government when she took them on over the planned release of taxi driver rapist John Worboys, leading a fundraising effort for his victims to sue the then Justice Secretary.

She testified publicly against Worboys, waiving her anonymity and revealing herself to have been targeted by the serial sex attacker when she was 19. 

Her testimony had led to his original conviction in 2009 for attacks against 12 women. But he was handed a further two life sentences for attacks on four more women and now may never be released.

Her intervention infuriated some former colleagues but she was praised for her bravery in a handwritten note from then-Prime Minister Theresa May after the row.

She left her Government job in the summer of 2018 amid claims of rows with No 10 over her closeness to Mr Johnson’s camp, and moved to City news firm Bloomberg before taking on a public relations role with the Oceana project, which aims to protect the world’s oceans.

But despite her long career in politics, she has told friends that she ‘struggled’ when Boris first arrived at No 10 in July last year, and that ‘it was a tricky wave to ride and took some getting used to’.

But they say Carrie makes Boris blissfully happy and has brought a new sense of calm to his sometimes boisterous and restless nature.

The couple relax by spending their evenings painting together, a passion that Boris’s political hero Winston Churchill also enjoyed, and at the weekends will go on bike rides together in the countryside.

They enjoy good meals out as much as cosy nights on the sofa. Their favourite restaurant is a neighbourhood Italian in East Sheen, eight miles from Westminster, called Mamma Mia where they often meet Carrie’s mother, media lawyer Josephine Mcaffee.

‘Food is a big part of their relationship,’ said one source. ‘She cooks him his favourite meal, a chicken curry, on big occasions like Election night.’

Carrie likes to surprise Boris with ‘fun little gifts’ – most notably, the £1,000 motorbike she gave him for Christmas. But they are also hugely supportive of each other’s career ambitions.

One source said: ‘He is very, very supportive of her working at Oceana – and is very keen that she keeps the independence of her own career – though she is looking at doing some charity patronages in the future, and that’s something that she and Boris have discussed.

‘While she is a sounding board for him with his politics, she is also fully respectful of the Downing Street/Conservative etiquette and errs on the side of caution.’

With two such fiery characters, it is perhaps no surprise there have been bumps along the way.

Last summer, a neighbour of the couple at their flat in Camberwell, South London, called police after recording a heated row between the couple in which he heard ‘slamming and banging’ and Carrie telling Boris to ‘get out of my flat’.

There is also the continuing mystery of Boris’s existing children – and his numerous extramarital affairs. The Prime Minister has always refused to say how many he has – but it is known he has four children from his marriage to Marina Wheeler, and a daughter born in 2009 from an affair with art advisor Helen Macintyre.

At first, Boris denied even being her father, and was not named on the birth certificate. However, his paternity was revealed after a 2013 court battle in which he sought an injunction to prevent the child’s existence being reported.

This latest announcement is one more dramatic moment in a tumultuous romantic career. Carrie is no doubt banking on a calmer future.

Boris Johnson’s girlfriend Carrie Symonds is PREGNANT: Prime Minister and his First Lady are engaged as she announces ‘We’ve got a baby hatching early summer’

By Jack Elsom and Danyal Hussain for MailOnline and Glen Owen and Harry Cole for the Mail on Sunday

Boris Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds are engaged and expecting a baby in early summer, they announced last night.

On her Instagram Saturday evening, Ms Symonds shared an intimate photo of her and the PM and wrote: ‘I wouldn’t normally post this kind of thing on here but I wanted my friends to find out from me. 

‘Many of you already know but for my friends that still don’t, we got engaged at the end of last year… and we’ve got a baby hatching early summer.’ 

The date of their wedding has not been announced, but it will mark the first time in at least 250 years a sitting prime minister has married while in office. 

The Prime Minister, 55, has at least five children, although he has never confirmed the exact number after imposing a blanket ban on talking about his family. This will be the first child born to his 31-year-old partner. 

Mr Johnson, who has been married twice previously, this month finalised his divorce with estranged wife Marina Wheeler, with whom he has two daughters and two sons. Last night, Downing Street would not confirmed if the decree absolute had been granted.

While he was still married to barrister Ms Wheeler, he began dating Tory PR adviser Ms Symonds, and the couple are believed to have been in a relationship for 18 months.

However, he has known Ms Symonds since she worked on his successful bid to win a second term as London Mayor in 2012. 

According to one source, the couple had come up with a plan several weeks ago to announce the pregnancy and engagement simultaneously and then ‘slip away quietly abroad to marry in private’ as soon as his divorce from Ms Wheeler was finalised.

A No 10 source said: ‘Boris and Carrie are both delighted at this news. They have both known for a while but have kept it under wraps until the pregnancy progressed.

‘It partly explains why he has been lying low recently – although he works flat-out and that won’t change. Carrie is thrilled and she will also continue to work on her environmental projects.’ 

Ms Symonds and Mr Johnson, who live together in Downing Street, recently enjoyed a luxury Christmas Caribbean vacation in Mustique where he is believed to have proposed.

The couple’s relationship has been firmly in the public spotlight, and a row in her Camberwell flat during last summer’s Tory leadership election wobbled Mr Johnson’s bid for the top job.

On Friday, it emerged Ms Symonds had hired a media professional to handle her communications and help on her campaigns as she molds into the role of the UK’s first lady. 

Sarah Vaughan-Brown, ITN’s former director of corporate communications, started work last month. Her salary is paid by the Conservative Party.

Although the party said that Ms Vaughan-Brown would assist with Ms Symonds’s charitable work with the environment, animal cruelty and combating violence against women, it now seems likely that her new role will largely be dominated by protecting the Prime Minister’s partner from intrusive interest as she prepares to give birth to her first child.

But Ms Symonds has already been described as the power behind the throne, with reports of her and Downing Street supremo Dominic Cummings in a tug of war for the PM’s ear.  

Ms Symonds is the first unmarried partner of an incumbent British prime minister. She has largely kept out of the public eye since Mr Johnson, 55, took the reins of government in July.

She was scarcely seen at the PM’s side on the general election campaign trail, but waved with her soon-to-be husband on the steps outside the famous black door following the Conservatives’ thumping victory. 

The couple chose to live at the larger four-bedroom flat at No 11 Downing Street instead of the smaller two-bedroom official residence at No 10. 

They already share a dog, Dilyn, with the PM saying that he helped keep his stress down during the election campaign. 

It has been suggested in the past that Ms Symonds could not become a fully-fledged ‘first lady’ until the couple were married.

Mr Johnson was coy when asked about the subject last year, telling reporters that marriage speculation was ‘a tiny bit premature’.

Charlotte, James and even Winston are the bookies’ favourites for potential baby names – with odds for the name ‘Brexit’ at 1000/1. 

The couple have their own affectionate names for each other, with her reportedly calling him ‘Bozzie Bear’, while he refers to her as ‘Otter’.

Ex-Chancellor Sajid Javid, who was defenestrated by the PM in the recent reshuffle, was one of the first to offer congratulations to Mr Johnson Ms Symonds, who is his former special adviser.

Former Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson wrote: ‘Congratulations to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds.’

Ms Davidson, who had been critical of Mr Johnson during the European referendum campaign, stepped down as Scottish leader last year to spend more time with her young family.  

Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, called the baby and wedding announcement ‘lovely news’.

The Conservative MP said: ‘Congratulations to both Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds. Happy news!’

New Tory MP Dehenna Davison, a friend of Ms Symonds, tweeted: ‘Huge congratulations to the boss, Boris Johnson, and the wonderful Carrie Symonds – though something tells me there’s a new boss coming to Number 10!’ 

But Mr Johnson’s political rivals questioned the convenience of the timing of the announcement, which comes as the government is taking fire for its slow response to the coronavirus outbreak, the PM going AWOL during the flooding crisis and bitter rifts at the top of the Home Office.  

Labour MP Charlotte Nichols tweeted: ‘Congratulations to the happy couple notwithstanding, it’s truly remarkable that the announcement JUST HAPPENED to be on the day of the unprecedented resignation of top Home Office official Sir Philip Rutnam who will be taking a case of constructive dismissal against the Govt.’

And Labour MP Florence Eshalomi said it was ‘very convenient’ for the Prime Minister and Ms Symonds to make their announcement last night. 

Several political commentators also mooted the announcement as a distraction to keep embattled Home Secretary Priti Patel out of the headlines.

Previous prime ministers David Cameron and Tony Blair both had Downing Street babies – Florence in 2010, and Leo in 2000, respectively. 

The last babies born to prime ministers before Leo and Florence arrived more than 150 years ago, when Lord John Russell’s wife gave birth to two sons, George and Francis, during her husband’s first stint in office between 1846 and 1852.

Mr Johnson is first prime minister to be divorced in office in modern times, and his union with Ms Symonds will be his third marriage.

Earlier this month, a court heard that the Prime Minister and his estranged second wife Marina Wheeler were preparing to end their marriage after reaching an agreement over money.

A family court judge approved a financial settlement and gave Ms Wheeler permission to apply for a divorce decree.

Ms Wheeler and Mr Johnson, who have four children, separated in 2018 after marrying in 1993. 

He was a childhood friend of Ms Wheeler – the daughter of BBC journalist Charles Wheeler – when both were pupils at the European School in Brussels.

They have two daughters, Lara Lettice, 26, and Cassia Peaches, 22, and two sons Milo Arthur, 24, and Theodore Apollo, 20.  

He also has a fifth child, Stephanie Macintyre, with art consultant Helen Macintyre. 

The future PM met his first wife, Allegra Mostyn-Owen, while they were students at Oxford. They married in 1987, but the marriage was annulled in 1993.

In 2013 it emerged during another court hearing that Mr Johnson had fathered a daughter during an adulterous liaison while Mayor of London in 2009.

In 2004, he was sacked from the Tory frontbench over a reported affair with journalist Petronella Wyatt.

Boris and Carrie’s ‘Brexit baby’ – How Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds made history as first unmarried couple to live together in Downing Street

Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds made history as the first unmarried couple to officially live together in Downing Street.

The 55-year-old Prime Minister and 31-year-old conservationist, whose relationship has been the subject of intense intrigue, are now getting ready to welcome what may be referred to as a ‘Brexit baby’.

Ms Symonds, a former Conservative Party communications chief, found herself making headlines when she was romantically linked to Mr Johnson last year just months after the announcement of his separation from second wife Marina Wheeler.

The public relations expert had been in the so-called Westminster Bubble for most of her remarkably ascendant career, a high-point being when she was made head of party PR aged just 29.

Ms Symonds joined the Tory party media machine in 2009, first as a press adviser, then head of broadcast at Conservative campaign headquarters ahead of the 2015 general election.

Her association with Mr Johnson dates back to the early years, having worked on his successful re-election bid at City Hall in 2012.

But a row that saw police called to their home in the early stages of the Conservative leadership race offered a glimpse into the complicated private life about which Mr Johnson tries desperately to avoid answering questions.

The couple had been living together at Ms Symonds’s flat in Camberwell, south London, until the well-publicised row recorded by neighbours in June 2019.

They now live in a flat above Number 11 Downing Street and have adopted a Jack Russell-cross puppy called Dilyn.

In December, Mr Johnson’s sister Rachel Johnson said she has yet to meet Ms Symonds.

But their father Stanley, who appeared alongside Ms Johnson on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, said he has met Ms Symonds, adding: ‘The Johnsons are united in this.’

Back in January last year, Ms Symonds was joined by Stanley Johnson at an event in London opposing Japan’s plans to resume commercial whaling.

The pair were spotted smiling and chatting together after they both addressed the crowd.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s turbulent marriage to Ms Wheeler, during which they had four children, ended after 25 years together in September 2018.

In 2004 he was sacked from the Tory front-bench over a reported affair with journalist Petronella Wyatt and the Appeal Court ruled in 2013 that the public had a right to know he had fathered a daughter during an adulterous liaison while mayor of London in 2009.

Claims that Mr Johnson squeezed the thigh of journalist Charlotte Edwardes, at a private lunch at The Spectator magazine’s HQ shortly after he became editor in 1999, overshadowed his first Conservative Party conference as PM.

But in a public display of affection, Mr Johnson kissed Ms Symonds after his speech to party members at the event.

Mr Johnson greeted Cabinet ministers before embracing his girlfriend, kissing her on the cheek and then walking out of the hall holding her hand.

Meanwhile, allegations about Mr Johnson’s relationship with American entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri, and whether she enjoyed preferential treatment while he was London mayor, also dominated the headlines in September. 

The power behind the throne: How Carrie Symonds went from humble Tory press officer to Boris Johnson’s incredibly influential First Lady, dubbed the ‘Duchess of Downing Street’

By Danyal Hussain for MailOnline 

Carrie Symonds’ gushing announcement that she is engaged to Boris Johnson and ‘hatching’ a baby caps a remarkable rise for the former Tory staffer – from PM’s mistress to fully fledged First lady. 

Ms Symonds, 31, worked for the Tory party from 2009, before hitting the headlines when her affair with Mr Johnson came to light.  

That revelation, from September 2018, came during Mr Johnson’s second marriage to Marina Wheeler, the mother of four of his children, causing it to break down. 

During Ms Symonds and Mr Johnson’s turbulent relationship, she has been credited with transforming his public image, with the PM swapping his previously unruly, slap-dash outfits to a noticeably more polished look, with neatly cropped hair and a significantly slimmer waistline. 

Ms Symonds’ image has also noticeably changed, her outfits and Instagram posts becoming more conservative as her relationship with Mr Johnson grew more serious. 

But it’s not all been plain sailing, with the couple having a well-publicised plate-smashing row recorded by neighbours who claimed she yelled ‘get off me’ and ‘get out of my flat’ while he stayed at her flat in Camberwell, south London last year. 

Ms Symonds has been dubbed the ‘Duchess of Downing Street’, a reference to the similarity of her fashion to Kate Middleton, as well as a nod to her growing power behind the scenes at Number 10.   

With the engagement and the news of a baby on the way, Ms Symonds could now have an even greater impact on policy than he she has already had.  

A passionate conservationist, she had a direct impact on government policy after a badger cull in Derbyshire was called off, a move that saved thousands of the animals. 

Badgers are culled across Europe over fears they are spreading bovine tuberculosis among cattle – but a licence for a cull across Derbyshire was refused after a ‘direct intervention from the Prime Minister’, according to the chief executive of the Badger Trust. It came after the government already granted licenses for thousands of badgers to be culled all over the country. 

Ms Symonds has also hired a former ITN communications chief Sarah Vaughan-Brown, 45, as her personal adviser. Insiders say Ms Vaughan-Brown, who also handled PR for the Trinity Mirror newspaper group in the past, will be helping Ms Symonds with her growing charity interests. 

Her association with Mr Johnson dates back to 2012, when Ms Symonds worked on the now-PM’s successful second London mayoral campaign. 

Ms Symonds has ties to several other Tory figures, campaigning for Zac Goldsmith during the General Election and she is also thought to be a friend of ex-Chancellor Sajid Javid.

She joined the Tory party media machine in 2009, first as a press adviser, then head of broadcast at Conservative campaign headquarters ahead of the 2015 general election, before becoming communications chief in 2017. 

However, she was forced to quit just months after being accused of abusing her expenses to the tune of thousands of pounds.

Ms Symonds was asked to leave her £80,000-a-year after party chiefs said her performance was poor, having previously challenged her over taxi expenses.

Ms Symonds was the product of an affair between her father, Matthew, a founder of the Independent, and of newspaper lawyer Josephine McAfee while they were both were married to other people.

Her mother raised her in a three-bed townhouse in East Sheen, South West London, while her father provided financial assistance, though he is not thought to have played a big role in his life. 

Ms Symonds was educated at the £20,000-a-year Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith, west London, which counts Nigella Lawson as a former pupil. 

She then went on to study theatre studies and history of art, graduating with a first from Warwick University. 

Last year, pictures emerged of a scantily-clad Ms Symonds appearing in an occult-inspired play at university.  

Her degree led her to consider a career as an actress, appearing in amateur shows and even trying for a part in Atonement, the 2007 film starring Keira Knightley. 

After that proved unsuccessful, she turned her attention to politics, joining the Conservatives as a press officer. 

This led to her working with Mr Goldsmith and on her future husband Mr Johnson’s campaigns. 

She also became a special adviser to John Whittingdale at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport before working for Sajid Javid. 

In June 2017, at the age of 29, that she was made the Tory communications chief, before leaving her post, with her subsequent relationship with Mr Johnson elevating her publicly profile even higher.  

Two weddings, three affairs and a pole-dancing tech-guru: The very busy love life of Boris Johnson 

By Nick Enoch for MailOnline

The news that Boris Johnson’s girlfriend Carrie Symonds is pregnant, and that the pair are engaged, marks the latest chapter in the PM’s turbulent love life.

His first marriage at the age of 23 to Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1987 collapsed six years later after it emerged he was having an affair with childhood friend Marina Wheeler.

Boris’s subsequent marriage to Marina lasted 25 years – during which he had affairs with three women. 

Here, we outline the Prime Minister’s colourful past relationships – as well as his links to one alleged lover of his – former pole dancer, and tech guru, Jennifer Arcuri. 

1987: The first wife, Allegra Mostyn-Owen, whom he met at Oxford 

Boris married his Oxford University sweetheart Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1987 when they were both aged 23.

They divorced in 1993 after his affair with the woman who would become his second wife, Marina Wheeler.

The daughter of renowned art historian William Mostyn-Owen and flamboyant Italian writer Gaia Servadio, Allegra was a socialite and former Tatler cover girl whose beauty had besotted young men falling at her feet at Oxford University.

 ‘When we got married, that was actually the end of the relationship instead of the beginning,’ Allegra would later say.  

Their relationship ended after six years following revelations of his affair with Marina Wheeler QC, who was a childhood friend of Boris.

Marina became pregnant with the first of their four children before his divorce from Allegra was finalised.

Johnson later reconciled with Mostyn-Owen before they separated in February 1990 and divorced in 1993 – just 12 days before he married Marina Wheeler, whom he had a child with five weeks later.  

1993: Boris marries Marina Wheeler – the woman who stood by him for years… but left her just as he was on the brink of becoming PM

Marina Wheeler married Boris on May 8, 1993 – just 12 days after his divorce from Allegra was finalised on April 26.

Together, Boris and Marina have four children: Lara Lettice, Milo Arthur, Cassia Peaches and Theodore Apollo.

After first meeting Boris at the European School of Brussels, they also attended private boarding school Bedales in Hampshire together before she went to Cambridge. 

Born in Berlin in 1964, she is of English and Indian Sikh descent. After being called to the bar in 1987, Marina returned to London. 

Marina and Boris met again in London when they were both in their mid-twenties. 

The couple remained married for 25 years despite Boris’s spectacularly colourful love life. 

Marina endured multiple public humiliations over Boris’s well-publicised affairs – locking her high profile husband out of the house more than once – only to forgive him, prior to their final split in 2018.

The affairs 

2004: Petronella Wyatt and the ‘inverted pyramid of piffle’ 

Around seven years into his marriage to Marina, she became aware that Boris was having an affair with Petronella Wyatt, daughter of Margaret Thatcher’s favourite journalist Woodrow Wyatt.

In 2004, it was reported that ‘Petsy’ may have had an abortion, to which Boris declared to The Mail on Sunday: ‘I had not had an affair with Petronella. 

‘It is complete balderdash. It is an inverted pyramid of piffle.’ 

Boris was soon found to be lying and after days of publicity, Tory leader Michael Howard sacked Johnson from his position as Shadow Culture Minister. 

2006:  Emergence of liaisons with Anna Fazackerley

Alongside this, Marina was also alerted to another affair that Boris had been having with journalist Anna Fazackerley, which emerged in 2006.

When the affairs garnered publicity, it also became public knowledge that Marina had become pregnant at the time that Boris was still married to Allegra, who was quoted saying: ‘I divorced him for adultery. It enabled him to marry Marina.’

The divorce had been finalised on April 26, 1993 and Boris married Marina on May 8 of the same year, with Lara Johnson being born on June 12. 

Marina threw her husband out of their home after his affair with Anna was publicised, but they soon worked things out.

2009: The love child with Helen Macintyre

In 2009, Mr Johnson is said to have fathered a child with art consultant Helen Macintyre. 

It is understood Mrs Wheeler had, again, kicked him out of the family home at the time.

Mr Johnson’s fatherhood of Miss Macintyre’s daughter was first revealed by the Daily Mail in July 2010.

In 2013, a court ruled that it was in the public interest for the Press to report Mr Johnson was the father.

Police probe into Boris’s links with his alleged lover Jennifer Arcuri

Mr Johnson has faced two separate inquiries over his relationship with American former pole dancer and tech entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri, 34, while he was Mayor of London, both of which were put on hold during the election.  

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has been evaluating whether to investigate the Prime Minister for possible criminal offence of misconduct in public office since September. 

The watchdog confirmed it was doing a ‘scoping exercise’ to track down witnesses globally, and said that it had ‘never put a timescale on how long this process would take’, according to the Observer. 

In a statement, the IPOC said that the allegation date back ‘eight years’ and they have to ‘locate and speak with a number of potential witnesses both in the country and abroad’.

Mr Johnson has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to his friendship with Ms Arcuri.

On October 3 last year, Ms Arcuri told the Daily Mail she had ‘every right’ to go on trade missions with Mr Johnson. She calls all the allegations false, saying she is a ‘legitimate businesswoman’. 

It follows a report by The Sunday Times that Ms Arcuri, an American who moved to London seven years ago, was given £126,000 in public money and was treated to privileged access to three foreign trade missions led by Mr Johnson while he was mayor.

The Government has since frozen a £100,000 grant to Ms Arcuri’s company, Hacker House, pending a review.

It is facing embarrassing questions about the verification process carried out before awarding the money.

Digital Minister Matt Warman told the Commons that his department had done the ‘usual due diligence’ and that the company had a British phone number.

However, numerous reports said calls to the number were directed to an office in California, where Ms Arcuri, 34, is said to now be based.

Boris Johnson’s divorce from Marina Wheeler 

Boris Johnson and his estranged wife Marina Wheeler agreed a divorce settlement on February 18 this year, following a legal dispute over money. 

Judge Sarah Gibbons oversaw a private hearing in the Central Family Court in London, which neither party attended.

During the short hearing, she gave Ms Wheeler permission to apply for a Decree Absolute, which would bring the marriage to an end.

A case number revealed Mr Johnson, who is now living with Carrie Symonds at Downing Street, and Ms Wheeler were involved in a dispute over money or assets.

Marina Claire Wheeler was named as the ‘petitioner’ and ‘applicant’ in the case, while Alexander Boris De Pfeffel Johnson was named as the ‘respondent’.

Mr Johnson was said to have had £6.5million in cash and assets as of September 2018, but will have likely seen his wealth rise since becoming Prime Minister last July.

It is therefore plausible that Ms Wheeler will be receiving around £4million if it is an equal split. However, the judge said no detail from the case relating to money can be revealed in reports, apart from what is already in the public domain.

Judge Gibbons gave Ms Wheeler permission to apply for the decree absolute ‘out of time’.

This suggests that she was granted a decree nisi by the courts more than a year ago.

Those who are successfully granted a decree nisi have up to a year to apply for the next stage of divorce, the decree absolute.