How Boris’s mistress bragged to his aides
Emails reveal clashes with staff over her business events
EXTRAORDINARY emails show how Boris Johnson’s lover clashed with his officials over his appearances at her business events.
Official messages reveal how Jennifer Arcuri signed up the then London mayor to speak at tech summits without his City Hall staff knowing.
She boasted that ‘Boris himself has been my point of contact’ ahead of one video chat with Silicon Valley executives.
The US entrepreneur had to be told by exasperated officials: ‘Please can you refrain from going via the Mayor direct?’
In one message Miss Arcuri appeared to address Mr Johnson as ‘dearest’ and asked: ‘Can I apply to go on this mission trip in October? Come with me when we go;-) ??!!!!’
The 240 pages of emails and documents are likely to be studied by the Greater London Assembly’s oversight committee when it investigates whether or not the then-mayor gave preferential treatment to Miss Arcuri and her firms InnoTech, Playbox and Hacker House.
It comes after the 36-year-old admitted she had a four-year affair with Mr Johnnot son, which included claims of sex on the sofa of his family home while his wife was at work.
The emails date back to early 2013, the year after she claims the couple began seeing each other, when Miss Arcuri wanted Mr Johnson to do his first ‘Google Hangout’ video meeting at her InnoTech Summit in Canary Wharf. She was already promoting him as the main attraction of the event before his staff were told.
In a message to an unnamed official she wrote: ‘I don’t want to do anything that put anyone off at the Mayor’s Office but do need to get moving on promotion. As you know we have all of Los Angeles and San Fran tuning in and for this event so must work logistics with them as well.
‘Any question about the validity of this event please talk to Boris himself as he has been my point of contact.’ A senior official replied: ‘As per our conversation, the Mayor is incredibly busy and we would appreciate any requests for the Mayor to speak, coming through the Private Office. The Mayor does have sight of his diary at times and I have had to rearrange the diary significantly to accommodate this event. Please can you refrain from going via the Mayor direct. Also as discussed, please feel free to list the Mayor as a speaker on the website but please can you remove him as a partner or sponsor.’
Miss Arcuri later drafted a press release including a quote from the Mayor but it was amended by City Hall to make it ‘much less odd’.
In autumn that year, Miss Arcuri told people that Mr Johnson would take part in an event of hers at the World Islamic Economic Forum at the ExCel Centre in London.
She told one staffer that his appearance had been ‘confirmed’, but they replied: ‘Sadly the Mayor is unable to attend.’
One intriguing email included in the freedom of information release, dated July 2015, was sent by Miss Arcuri to a person in City Hall whose name was removed, and appeared to refer to a trade mission to Israel that she and Mr Johnson both attended. It read: ‘ Dearest [redacted], Can I apply to go on this mission trip in October? I really really need to go visit this Hacker house!!! Come with me when we go;-) ??!!!!! Xxx’
Downing Street declined to comment but on Monday, Mr Johnson’s Press Secretary Allegra Stratton insisted: ‘He does believe in the wider principles of integrity and honesty.’ She pointed out that he had been cleared of any impropriety last year by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.