EX-TORY spin doctor Carrie Symonds is currently the love interest of the country’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The communications and PR chief quit working for Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) in 2018, here’s everything you need to know about the new lady at Number 10.
6
What happens now that Boris Johnson is Prime Minister?
Carrie has moved in with new PM, Boris Johnson at Downing Street – but won’t be stealing the spotlight from him.
A source close to the Conservative couple told The Sun: A friend told The Sun: “They’ve been living together a while and have agreed it will carry on if he wins.”
If Carrie and Boris do live together at Number 10 they will be the first unmarried couple to do so – but Boris has refused to comment on the matter saying: ““I decided ages ago that I just don’t talk about people I love.”
While Mr Johnson’s official residence as Prime Minister is No 10 he and Ms Symonds will take the flat above No 11 as it is larger than the one just next door.
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said:”The PM is officially moving in today [July 29, 2019] and, yes, his partner will be living there.”
Last week it was revealed that Boris wants to get a pet dog for No10 – but it will have to get on well with Larry the cat too.
Who is Carrie Symonds?
Carrie Symonds is a 31-year-old PR guru currently in a relationship with Boris Johnson.
Her parents are Matthew Symonds, one of the founders of the Independent, and Josephine Mcaffee who was one of the paper’s lawyers.
Symonds grew up in East Sheen, South West London, and attended the prestigious Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith.
An old flame of Carrie’s, Oliver Haste, opened up about his own “tumultuous relationship with the PR expert.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “I found when times were good with Carrie they were great – they were fantastic.
“When times were bad they were awful. It was a highly passionate relationship.
“And I don’t mean that in a salacious, physical sense. I mean in terms of emotional context – very emotionally charged.
“It’s the most up and down relationship I have had.
“Any relationship with Carrie or friendship with Carrie is very intense and can often burn brightly. It’s never boring.
“She often brings a lot of intensity to relationships, be they romantic or friendships. That passion can work the other way when she is not happy with you.”
Haste and Carrie met in 2007, while she was studying drama and history of art at Warwick University and she was starting to become interested in Tory politics.
He claims to have introduced her to minor figures in the Conservative Party, before her career in politics took off.
Eventually the romance ended in 2010, according to him in a “not particularly amicable” manner – with her friends insisting the pair were only together for six months.
6
When did she work for the Conservative party?
Described as a popular figure in Westminster, the young PR whizz regularly attended parliamentary bashes and Tory party events while working as the party’s communications chief.
Symonds worked for current Home Secretary Sajid Javid when he held the local government brief, as well as for John Whittingdale during his time as Culture Secretary.
Following a brief spell as an adviser to Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, she was appointed to the strategic role of Conservative communications chief.
During her eight years at CCHQ she worked alongside leading Tories including Michael Gove and Amber Rudd.
The lucrative role led to her being named as the UK’s second most powerful public relations professional by PR Week magazine.
She quit in around August 2018, before starting at Bloomberg as PR for their Vibrant Oceans programme.
6
What happened at her flat and why were the police called?
On June 24 photographs of Boris and Carrie emerged which showed them holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes.
But just days before cops were called to the home the couple share in Camberwell, South London.
The couple have not commented on their row inside their home.
Johnson told the BBC that it was “simply unfair” to “drag” his loved ones into politics.
A neighbour made a 999 call to the police after hearing shouting coming from the flat in South London.
The Guardian claimed Carrie was allegedly heard telling the Tory leadership candidate to “get off me” and “get out of my flat”.
It’s expected that Johnson will be grilled about events during a leadership debate in Birmingham in the first of 16 events over the next month.
A neighbour who heard screaming, shouting and plate-smashing just after midnight yesterday called 999 over fears for Carrie, 31.
In the recording, Boris can allegedly be heard refusing to leave the flat and telling his girlfriend to “get off my f***ing laptop” before a loud crash is heard.
The neighbour said: “There was a smashing sound of what sounded like plates.
“There were a couple of very loud screams that I’m certain were Carrie and she was shouting to ‘get out’ a lot.
6
“She was saying ‘get out of my flat’ and he was saying no. And then there was silence after the screaming.
“My wife, who was in bed half asleep, had heard a loud bang and the house shook.”
Nursery worker Fatima, 32, lives next door to the couple with her four-year-old son.
She said: “I heard a lot of noise, mostly screaming and shouting. It lasted about ten minutes.
“I was watching something on TV, I had to mute it. I’ve never heard anything like it before.
“I heard three or four glass objects being thrown while she was shouting.
“He had a much calmer voice and was telling her to calm down, but she was still chucking things about.
“She sounded very angry, shouting and swearing. It did cross my mind to call the police but then they turned up and I was reassured.
“I saw one police car and a van, they stayed about ten minutes and left. Then it was all quiet for the rest of the night.”
Carrie has claimed she had been “stitched up” by her neighbours and has been subjected what she believes is a hate campaign.
A Boris camp insider said: “As far as Carrie is concerned this is a stitch-up.
“Both she and Boris are convinced that this was politically-motivated.
“It was a row like lots of couples have at the end of a demanding day but suddenly they found the police on their doorstep.”
Left-wing playwrights Eve Leigh, and Tom Penn were behind the police call out in Labour-held Camberwell, South London, on Friday.
6
When did Carrie and Boris become an item?
The pair’s romance has long been rumoured but was confirmed beyond doubt when she appeared in public with him for the first time to support his leadership bid in June 2019.
Rumours about the couple first circulated as news of Boris’s separation from his wife Marina Wheeler emerged last year.
Sources say that on Valentine’s Day 2018, Symonds was heard boasting to friends about spending the night with Boris in the Oxfordshire countryside, while BoJo is also reported to have wooed Symonds at the Rosewood Hotel in Holborn.
BoJo, 54, vowed to “protect” Carrie and apologised for dragging her into the media storm, according to the Mirror.
It’s understood Carrie now lives with BoJo in his South London home – and that they could move into Number 10 together.
Boris could be the first PM to wed in office if the two tie the knot after he becomes Tory leader.
A friend told The Sun: “He wants to get engaged. He’s completely in thrall to Carrie. Totally loved-up.
“It’s sweet to see. He’s like a puppy dog around her and very solicitous but desperate to avoid messing it up.”
The source believes the Tory MP will propose to the former Tory aide “once the ink dries on his divorce”.
6
When did Boris Johnson announce his divorce?
Boris and his long-suffering wife Marina Wheeler announced their divorce on September 7, 2018, after news of his affair emerged.
The pair said in a joint statement that they separated “several months ago” and were in the process of getting a divorce after 25 years of marriage.
In a statement they suggested their split was amicable, saying that “as friends we will continue to support our four children in the years ahead”.
Marina has thrown her husband out twice before — first in 2004 over his four-year affair with writer Petronella Wyatt, and then again in 2010 when he was suspected of having a lovechild with art consultant Helen Macintyre.
On both occasions, Marina has taken him back, but the current split appears final.
