Together on party night, Boris and the well connected Tory aide ‘forced out by No10’
THE fun-loving blonde Tory aide at the centre of Boris Johnson’s marriage split was ousted by ‘bullying’ No10 to destroy his dream of becoming Prime Minister, his allies claimed last night.
Glamorous Carrie Symonds, 30, abruptly quit her job as head of communications for the Conservative Party three weeks ago, amid suspicions she was politically ‘sleeping with the enemy’.
She was officially a Tory party cheerleader, charged with promoting Theresa May’s vision for Brexit. But behind the scenes, Downing Street feared Miss Symonds was growing too close to Mrs May’s biggest critic, Mr Johnson, prompting concerns of a conflict of interest.
In addition, she was highly visible on social media and made statements about public policy.
She has often written positive comments about Mr Johnson, last year posting a link to one of his speeches with the comment: ‘This is really worth watching.’
Despite her back office role, she regularly urged action on issues such as environmental scandals and on the prospect of black cab rapist John Worboys being released on parole earlier this year after less than a decade in jail. At the time, she wrote it was ‘brilliant news’ when an outcry over the Worboys case resulted in the public being able to see details of why a criminal was being released early.
As news of her involvement with Mr Johnson broke on Saturday, she tweeted: ‘Sea otters have the thickest fur of all animals.’ Her cryptic message came after Mr Johnson mentioned otters in his newspaper column three weeks ago.
Yesterday Miss Symonds was in hiding as Westminster speculation centred on her, following Mr Johnson’s split from his wife Marina Wheeler.
As Foreign Secretary, Mr Johnson repeatedly took time out of Brexit to pursue his ‘strong friendship’ with Miss Symonds, who is only five years older than his eldest daughter Lara – who has since branded her father a ‘selfish b ****** ’.
Mr Johnson, 54, sent a ‘ministerial car’ to collect Miss Symonds from a wedding, bom-
barded her with playful texts, attended her 30th birthday, and wined and dined her on Valentine’s Day as his ‘peeved’ police protection officers sat by, it was claimed.
His wife, also 54, finally tired of his serial unfaithfulness after discovering some of his lurid texts, and the couple announced their divorce on Friday. Miss Wheeler, the mother of Mr Johnson’s first four children, is now said to fear he had as many as ten affairs during their 25-year marriage.
Mr Johnson’s marital breakdown erupted around the time of the crucial Chequers deal in July.
Yesterday there was anger that not only was Mr Johnson himself distracted from delivering Brexit, but he was spending too much time with the Tory party communications chief.
But Mr Johnson’s allies poured scorn on Downing Street.
Brexiteer MP Nadine Dorries said: ‘This is all a bullying attempt by No 10 to destroy Boris ahead of the party conference and it’s been happening all over the summer. I think Carrie was collateral damage. It’s because she was close to the Brexiteers. Part of that strategy of attack was to get rid of her.
‘I’m very sure she was ousted. She is a lovely girl who everyone speaks very highly of and she was excellent at her job. CCHQ feels her loss keenly.’
A Tory MP added: ‘This is how Theresa May’s team deals with anyone who gets in their way. It’s hardly a coincidence Carrie Symonds had to leave her job.’
Another senior Tory said: ‘You can see how it might look in No10 if they discover the woman in charge of communications for the party is in a relationship with the Prime Minister’s biggest critic. There is potentially a question of divided loyalties and that might explain why she left.’
And another source added: ‘She was sometimes shockingly indiscreet, and critical of Theresa May, and would actively promote Boris’s interests to journalists ahead of May’s. Central Office got wind of that and thought she had dual loyalties. She jumped before she was pushed.’
Downing Street declined to comment on the reasons for the departure of Miss Symonds, who starts a new job this week as a clean oceans specialist at City news giant Bloomberg. Friends of Miss Symonds, who advised Sajid Javid when he was communities secretary, say she felt she had been penalised for her links to ‘Team Boris’. And a Tory insider insisted her exit was not linked to her relationship with Mr Johnson or to her friendships with other leading Brexiteers, such as Zac Goldsmith, John Whittingdale and Michael Gove.
‘The reason Carrie left had nothing to do with her private life,’ the source claimed. ‘Yes, she’s a Brexiteer who is friends with a lot of other Brexiteers, but there are quite a few Brexiteers inside No 10. After all, the Government is taking Britain out of the EU.’
Colleagues first noticed Mr Johnson had eyes for the aide when they attended the Tory annual Black and White fundraising ball in February. They were pictured giggling together as they left.
Friends claim they go to extraordinary lengths to see each other during and after work. They said their ‘strong relationship’ had been an open secret for several months.
Now living in North London, Miss Wheeler was said by friends to have borrowed a Brexit catchphrase. One said: ‘She’s taken control of this. She’s not a victim. No one who knows her recognises that description. This is about Marina taking back control.’
Neither Mr Johnson nor Miss Symonds have commented.