PM acted ‘with honesty and integrity’ amid Arcuri claims
BORIS Johnson’s press secretary has said the Prime Minister believes he acted with “honesty and integrity” in his time as London mayor amid new allegations about his relationship with an American businesswoman.
Allegra Stratton said there was “no case to answer” on claims that Mr Johnson used his position while London mayor to get favourable treatment for Jennifer Arcuri.
It comes after Ms Arcuri made fresh allegations that she and Mr Johnson had a four-year romantic relationship when he was mayor, during an interview with the Sunday Mirror.
The American businesswoman claims she had sex with Mr Johnson on his family sofa while his then-wife Marina Wheeler was away.
Messages between then-Mayor of London Mr Johnson and Ms Arcuri appear to show he texted her the address of the house in Islington, North London, before saying he wanted to “check the coast is gonna be clear”.
Speaking of the alleged incident in March 2016, Ms Arcuri says they ate cheezy pasta and drank red wine before Mr Johnson asked her to help with his writer’s block saying: “I really need you, baby, I really need you.”
She says they then read Shakespeare on his family sofa before having sex.
Ms Arcuri said: “We moved on to reading Macbeth, which was a kind of foreplay routine we had. I said, ‘Let’s skip to the good stuff.’ He said, ‘I love that about you, you just want to get to the good part.’
“After we made love... I felt conflicted being there in his family home and seeing him like this but I couldn’t help but love the feeling of being desired.”
Ms Arcuri said Mr Johnson’s wife, a QC, came home minutes after she left the house.
She says that by early 2016 she was starting to feel increasingly uncomfortable about what she describes as a four-year affair.
Mr Johnson faces an inquiry by the Greater London Authority – responsible for the mayor’s office – over claims his failure to declare his relationship with Ms Arcuri may have been a breach of the Nolan Principles of Public Life, which are contained in the Mayor of London’s code of conduct.
Ms Arcuri was granted access to events at three top-level trade missions, despite her businesses not meeting the criteria for the trips.
Ms Arcuri claims Mr Johnson saw her regularly behind the back of his wife, whom he married in 1993. She told the Sunday Mirror her affair with the PM had begun in August 2012. During his second mayoral term, she claims Johnson was a regular visitor to her flat in Shoreditch, East London.
Mr Johnson split with Ms Wheeler in 2018, shortly before news of his relationship with former Tory spin doctor Carrie Symonds became public. He now lives in Downing Street with Ms Symonds.
Mr Johnson avoided a criminal investigation after the police watchdog found no evidence he had influenced the payment of thousands of pounds of public money to her or secured her participation in foreign trade trips he led.
But he still faces a probe by the GLA’s oversight committee.
The Prime Minister’s press secretary did not address the relationship directly yesterday but repeatedly referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) findings when questioned by reporters during a Westminster briefing.
She insisted Mr Johnson abided by the Nolan Principles of Public Life – the basis of the ethical standards expected of public office holders.
“He does believe in the wider principles of integrity and honesty,” Ms Stratton told reporters.
“He acts with integrity and is honest. I’ve said that he follows the Nolan principles when conducting himself in public life.”
The IOPC report, published last year, found there was no evidence Mr Johnson influenced the payment of sponsorship money to Ms Arcuri’s companies.
However, the IOPC said it “would have been wise” for Mr Johnson to have declared their “close association” as a conflict of interest and referred the matter back to the GLA’s oversight committee.
Ms Stratton said that the Prime Minister will “engage” with the investigation by City Hall, but repeated he had “no case to answer” following the findings by the IOPC.
“This work has been done – public time, money and effort has been spent looking into whether or not there’s any wrongdoing and it was found that the Prime Minister, the then London mayor, has no case to answer,” she said.