Carrie’s back... and they’ve bought a £1.3m bolthole
THEY have not been seen together in public since they had that noisy late-night argument over a winestained sofa.
But Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds put paid to rumours that they have been on the brink of splitting up when they turned up at his country home yesterday.
With Mr Johnson expected to be just days away from becoming prime minister, the couple were accompanied by armed plainclothes police officers, including one carrying a Taser under his jacket.
The Tory leadership frontrunner changed from a t- shirt into a dark suit before leaving the house in Oxfordshire and getting into a car with Miss Symonds.
His girlfriend looked elegant in a patterned outfit accessorised with gold hoop earrings and a necklace, with her blonde hair swept back into a low bun.
It came as it emerged Miss Symonds and Mr Johnson have bought a new home together in what friends say is a sign of the strength of their relationship. The couple purchased the £1.3million property last week even though Mr Johnson is expected to move into Downing Street on Wednesday.
Friends said Miss Symonds will also move into Number 10, but is determined to keep a ‘low profile’ so as not to distract attention from him.
She will not travel in the car with Mr Johnson to Buckingham Palace when he goes to see the Queen and ‘kiss hands’.
Nor will she walk down Downing Street with him when he returns and makes his speech outside the famous black door. Instead, she is expected to move discreetly into the flat above Number 11 that they will share later in the week.
The couple, who have been together for more than a year, completed on their purchase of a three- storey Victorian house in Camberwell, South London, last week.
Miss Symonds, 31, was seen moving furniture into the property with her mother, Josephine Mcafee, the Mail on Sunday reported.
A source said: ‘This most definitely shows they are stronger than ever. There have been lots of presumptions that all is not well between them but they couldn’t be further from the truth.’
Sources close to Mr Johnson yesterday denied claims he had requested new furniture – including a bed – for Number 10 because he ‘didn’t have any stuff ’. Last week the Mail revealed Miss Symonds had
told friends she doesn’t want to be ‘in the limelight’ when Mr Johnson fulfils his lifetime ambition of becoming PM. She will keep her job as an advisor at oceana, an organisation which campaigns for policies to protect and restore the world’s oceans. The couple lived together in Miss Symonds’ flat in Camberwell – which is close to their new house – until last month, when their neighbours called the police following a late night ‘ row’ and leaked a recording to The Guardian.
Mr Johnson is still married to second wife Marina, the mother of four of his children. They announced they were divorcing in September last year.