Did Carrie’s fight to keep serial rapist in jail cost her job?
CARRIE Symonds’ role in fighting to keep the black cab rapist behind bars was one of the reasons she was forced to quit her job at Tory HQ, it emerged last night.
She allegedly used her influence with ministers to force a U-turn on the controversial decision to release John Worboys, a serial rapist who police fear may have abused 100 women.
Miss Symonds, 30, then Conservative HQ director of communications, spoke out publicly against the Parole Board decision earlier this year, branding him a ‘danger’ and highlighting a tweet saying releasing him would be ‘grotesque’.
Justice Secretary David Gauke was forced to order a U-turn on Worboys’ release after he was challenged in Cabinet by Environment Secretary Michael Gove, a friend and ally of Miss Symonds.
Mr Gove’s intervention in January – on an issue that had nothing to do with his departmental portfolio – raised eyebrows among fellow ministers. According to Whitehall insiders, even though the campaign won overwhelming public support, some Government officials thought it was another example of Miss Symonds being ‘too partisan’ and backing one minister against another.
Her subsequent exit from her Tory party role is said to have been the result of concern at No10 that she was too close politically to Brexiteers such as Mr Gove – as well as too close personally to Mr Johnson.
Indeed, the plot to oust Miss Symonds began six months ago – but was thwarted when Mr Johnson and Mr Gove rode to her rescue.
Both men stepped in to save her job at Tory HQ when other ministers had turned against her. She eventu- ally quit three weeks ago and was supposed to take a new role at City giant Bloomberg yesterday – but was forced to postpone her start amid the ongoing furore.
Beleaguered Mr Johnson, 54, has been accused of plunging the Conservatives into disarray over his relationship with Miss Symonds.
She often made positive comments about him and the pair’s ‘strong friendship’ was said to be at its height during the Chequers crisis. Miss Symonds is also said to have openly opposed the Chequers deal thrashed out by Theresa May – even though it was her job as head of Tory party communications to help sell it.
But it was her influential role in the Worboys case that helped lead to her downfall at Tory HQ.
The row over the rapist’s potential release erupted in January when it emerged that the Parole Board had approved his bid for freedom.
In 2009 he had received an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection for attacks on a number of women with the minimum custodial term set at eight years.
The judge said he would not be released until the Parole Board
‘She was too partisan’
decided he no longer presented a threat to women.
Mr Gauke initially defended the decision to free the serial rapist, but was eventually forced into a U-turn by the public furore over the issue, leaving his reputation badly dented. When he first indicated he was considering a review of the Parole Board’s decision on Worboys, Miss Symonds tweeted: ‘Hats off to David Gauke’.
Later that day she shared online a series of articles about the scandal, drawing attention to part of a newspaper report that said: ‘Senior prison source: “Worboys still remains a danger to the public. David Gauke is rightly trying every avenue to try and stop Worboys’ release”.’
The following day she retweeted a quote by Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, whom Miss Symonds formerly worked for, in which he argued the decision to release Worboys ‘looks more and more grotesque. Very hard to understand, and impossible to defend’.
In addition, Miss Symonds joined the public campaign to keep Worboys locked up, using Twitter to publicise the move to crowd-fund a legal challenge and highlight protests against the Parole Board ruling.
She declared: ‘Victims will be launching a crowdfund on CrowdJustice, to raise money for cost protection and legal fees so that justice can be done. The website is about go live. Please spread the word.’
She added: ‘Due to overwhelming interest, the crowdfunding page will be launched TODAY.’
Over the next few days, she gave regular updates on growing support for the campaign, tweeting that it was ‘seriously incredible’ that £1,000 had been raised in less than an hour. She encouraged people to ‘dig deep’, stating: ‘These girls will not be able to get justice without support.’
Mr Gove was not the only senior Tory linked to Miss Symonds to demand a Government U-turn over freeing Worboys.
Conservative MP Nick Boles, an ally of Mr Gove and who worked with Miss Symonds on Mr Gove’s Conservative leadership bid in 2016, tore into Theresa May’s ‘pathetic’ handling of the Worboys case.
A Whitehall source said: ‘No one doubts that Michael [Gove] and Carrie were right about Worboys but her intervention was seen as another example of being too political and partisan and inconsistent with her CCHQ job.’
Worboys was convicted of 19 serious sex crimes, but it has been alleged that he may have abused more than 100 victims during his 13-year career as a London taxi driver.
His tactic was to pick up women in his taxi late at night, and tell them that he was celebrating after winning a large amount of money, using a bag of cash to uphold his story.
He would then give the women champagne laced with temazepam, which had been prescribed for his own sleeping problems.
In March 2009, he was convicted of one rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted assault and 12 drugging charges committed from July 2007 to February 2008.
Following the row over his possible release in March this year two of his victims won a court challenge and quashed the Parole Board’s decision to free Warboys.
Privately-educated Miss Symonds was something of a ‘Marmite’ figure within the corridors of power with as many admirers as those fearful of her.
During her rapid rise, she has worked closely with former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, the then Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, former Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Mr Gove.
Last night Mr Johnson’s wife, Marina Wheeler, was said to be poised to serve divorce papers on him citing his ‘adultery’ for the breakdown of their 25-year marriage.
Neither Mr Johnson nor Miss Symonds have commented. But Tory party sources have confirmed that she was forced out of her role at headquarters because of ‘performance’ issues.
‘Inconsistent with her job’