SAMCAM ‘IS ADVISING CARRIE ON LIFE IN NO10’
CARRIE Symonds has received advice on being ‘First Lady’ from Samantha Cameron, the Mail understands.
The revelation came as Boris Johnson and Miss Symonds moved into Downing Street yesterday. The couple will live in the four-bedroomed flat above No 11 used by Theresa and Philip May and, previously, David and Samantha Cameron.
Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds were staying in a government-owned grace and favour flat in Admiralty House, off Whitehall, while Mrs May’s possessions were relocated.
In preparation for her own move, Miss Symonds has made contact with Mrs Cameron – who lived there from 2010 to 2016. A friend said: ‘SamCam has been giving Carrie some advice on living in No 10. They’re friends; she wants to help out.’
It was confirmed yesterday that there will be no additional cost to the taxpayer from Mr Johnson’s 31-year-old partner moving in. Last week the Mail revealed she would be the first female prime ministerial consort since Norma Major not to have her own taxpayer-funded office in Downing Street.
Mrs Cameron, Cherie Blair and Gordon Brown’s wife Sarah had full-time staff to organise their diaries, host charity events and handle media inquiries.
Sources confirmed Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds are bringing their own furniture and would not be using money from the public coffers to buy a bed or any furniture, as has been reported.
Miss Symonds will end her low profile later this month by making her first public speaking engagement since becoming ‘First Lady’. Alongside environmental activists including Chris Packham, she will take part at a panel event at Birdfair, a birdwatching conference at Egleton in Rutland on August 16.
The Question Time-style panel will be chaired by Dominic Dyer, head of the Badger Trust, which opposes the Government’s controversial cull of the animals.
Miss Symonds, who is a campaigner for the environmental charity Oceana, has championed animal welfare causes.
Yesterday she used Twitter to condemn British hunters who travel to Iceland to shoot puffins and bring their carcasses home as trophies. She tweeted: ‘Just can’t understand why anyone would want to shoot them. Mad.’
It came as 12 celebrities, including singer Ellie Goulding and actor James Norton, wrote to Mr Johnson urging him to make tackling the world’s climate emergency a ‘top priority’.