I MISS YOU & I NEED YOU
‘Last text’ Johnson sent to his US friend Jennifer Author alleges fling would have ended if his wife had not pulled plug on marriage
BORIS Johnson told American entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri “I miss you and I need you” in his final text to her, a bombshell book claims.
It is one of a string of allegations that are made in an explosive biography on the Prime Minister.
The book also says it was rumoured that looking at a picture of Arcuri, who he shared a close friendship with for several years, sparked an infamous row with fiancee Carrie Symonds.
But it adds that ultimately the argument in June last year, in which police were called to Carrie’s south London home, was the result of spilled red wine.
Author Tom Bower says in The Gambler that when Johnson was London mayor he spent evenings at Arcuri’s flat in Islington, north London, while married to Marina Wheeler.
It reads: “Partly mother figure and partly lover, she claimed to understand his mind, and he felt safe in her company.
“In return, he expressed affection but she could never be certain whether he was being truthful.”
When his second term as mayor ended in May 2016 it coincided with the C a l i f o r n i an businesswoman’s exit from his life.
The book says: “Their last meeting was at his house.
“‘ I ’ ll see you later,’ she said stepping into the stree t , without rev ealing her decision to move on.
“Wanting a child, she had found her future husband and they moved to Cheshire. Soon pregnant, she decided there would be closure and blocked Boris’ calls.
“His last text message was sent on December 29, 2018, two years after their last meeting. ‘I miss you and I need you,’ he’d write. She deleted the text.”
Last week, the technology entrepreneur, 35, spoke of lockdown and said the PM was “nothing s h o rt of a dictator” and “the worst kind of leader”.
She likened him to a “puppet on a string”, saying that “nobody trusts a word coming out of his mouth” and his time in top office had been shame after shame.
In May, it was announced that Johnson had avoided a criminal investigation surrounding his relationship with former model Arcuri, who now lives in Los Angeles. He was formally referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct last September, after Arcuri received public money and access to trade trips led by him when he was mayor. Arcuri had been awarded thousands of pounds in public money, including £11,500 by the mayor’s promotional agency London & Partners. Johnson’s office also intervened to give her a place on trade missions to New York and Tel Aviv with him, after she was initially turned down because she had failed to meet the criteria.
Bower, 74, a respected investigative journalist, writes in the book about the alleged row last year between Johnson and Carrie, who gave birth to their first child, Wilfred, in April. It was claimed Carrie was screaming that Johnson had spilled red wine on her sofa and reportedly said: “You just don’t care for anything because you’re spoilt.”
Johnson is said to have shouted: “Get off my f*****g laptop!”
This was allegedly followed by a loud crashing noise of glasses or plates.
Carrie is also said to have shouted, “Get off me!”, which she has denied saying. Bower says in the book: “No one disputed there had been an argument, fuelling intense speculation about the cause.
“Some said Carrie was furious that Boris had returned late from seeing Marina, who at the time was recovering from cervical cancer treatment.
“Others claimed Carrie was angry that former mistress Petronella Wyatt had texted Boris, mocking Carrie’s ‘undignified half-naked’ performance on top of a car (she had posted a fun photo of herself on Instagram) and saying ‘she needs her teeth fixed’.
“There were claims that he was looking at photos of Jennifer Arcuri.
Close when he was London mayor but ‘she wanted kids and cut him out of her life’
The truth was that Carrie, in an emotional outburst, was upset by Boris spilling a glass of red wine on her sofa: a domestic tiff.”
The book, which is being serialised in the Mail on Sunday, also claims if Marina had not ended her marriage to the now Prime Minister, “his fling with Carrie Symonds would have ended abruptly”.
It adds: “Instead, he became unintentionally close to a woman only five years older than his eldest daughter.”
Bower adds: “When their affair began in 2018, nobody on the Tory Party circuit could avoid Carrie, the then 29-year-old
QUESTIONS Their links were probed by watchdog
BORIS & JENNIFER
PARENTS The couple had their first child, Wilfred, in April
BORIS & CARRIE director of its communications team who regularly posted glamorous photos of herself on social media.
“While some praised her sound judgment and loyalty, others in party headquarters described her as manipulative, volatile and aggressive, especially towards women.
“Some said she has a ‘ polarising personality’ and had been appointed because of a close friendship with Zac Goldsmith.
“In 2017, her long-term relationship with a journalist broke up and she began advising Boris.
“Moody, uncertain and insecure, he needed company and reassurance from yet another new trusted female confidante.
“Carrie’s critics said that what started as a fling became, to match her ambition, a serious affair. Others said that she filled a vacancy. Inevitably, Marina found out about the relationship.
“There were fierce arguments but, after making a full confession, Boris had hoped for forgiveness from his loyal soulmate.
“Marina was emphatic. She couldn’t take his infidelity any more.
“She explicitly blamed his father, Stanley.
“All Boris’ worst qualities stemmed from that relationship. She refused to live with her husband any more.
“Boris seems never to have considered the consequences of a permanent break-up with his wife, or that it would wreck his relationship with their children. Lara, their eldest daughter, told a friend: ‘He’s a selfish b*****d. Mum is finished with him.’
“Lara later posted on Instagram that this period was ‘the hardest and most hurtful year of my life’.
“Under Carrie’s guidance, Boris began losing weight – off alcohol and late-night binges of cheese and chorizo.
“Their relationship had taken a course that was not intended by Boris.”