No new No 10 role for Symonds after Cummings’ demise
Praise for PM’S fiancée as advisers ousted but insiders fear her influence risks making Johnson look weak
CARRIE SYMONDS will not be given any formal role or taxpayer funded office, Downing Street sources insisted last night as they applied the brakes to her expanding influence.
The Prime Minister’s fiancée has been praised across large swathes of the parliamentary party and in Government for her pivotal role in the removal of Dominic Cummings as Boris Johnson’s most influential aide. Lee Cain, Downing Street’s director of communications, was also ousted after she opposed his appointment as chief of staff.
The part played by Ms Symonds, a former Conservative Party director of communications, in their demise led to speculation that the 32-year-old would be given an enhanced job at the heart of Government.
But Tory insiders expressed concern that having a more influential consort at his side risked making Mr Johnson, already appearing indecisive over the handling of Covid-19 and other major issues, look even weaker.
Last night Downing Street scotched any suggestion that she would be put on a more official footing in the wake of the sacking of Mr Cummings. A senior source said: “Carrie will not be taking on any formal role and there will be no change to her staffing or structures.”
Ms Symonds, who gave birth to their first child in April, has her own spokesman, Sarah Vaughan- Brown. Ms Vaughan-brown carries out the job on a part-time basis, and is paid for by the
Conservative Party. Ms Symonds, an environmental campaigner, does not receive any taxpayer funding for any of her work inside No 10.
In contrast, Samantha Cameron, Cherie Blair and Sarah Brown had their own full-time staff, paid for by the taxpayer, to organise diaries, host charity events and handle media and other inquiries.
One minister said it was right that Mr Johnson “listened to different people”. “I don’t think it is weak to listen to Carrie,” they said. “What was weak was the way Boris let Cummings and Cain destroy his relationship with the parliamentary party and the Government.”
A close friend of Mr Johnson’s said it was right that Mr Cummings had been ordered out of Downing Street.
“Boris Johnson is now determined to get a grip on events,” said the friend, “Carrie is a bit of a sideshow. She is sensible enough to know she cannot be the story. She knows she needs to return to the background again. You don’t have to be Boris’s girlfriend to say to Boris: ‘it’s a complete mess and you cannot go on like this’.”
However, the source said it was to Ms Symonds’ credit that she had been in a position to protest against Mr Cain’s elevation to chief of staff.
Reports yesterday suggested that Mr Johnson began to lose faith in Mr Cummings as long ago as the first lockdown when he drove to County Durham on a trip that led to calls for his sacking.
It was also claimed that Ms Symonds had grown increasingly dismayed at the allegedly laddish culture inside Downing Street presided over by Mr Cummings and Mr Cain, forcing Mr Johnson, who does not like confrontation, to finally take sides. One source said however that “the overarching narrative” was of a prime minister who looked “increasingly indecisive and weak” by following orders from his girlfriend.
‘Carrie knows she needs to return to the background again’