Critics see the hand of Carrie Symonds in the expensive renovation of the couple’s apartment and other political dust. Supporters see “outdated sexist tropes.”
LONDON – Of all the nasty ethical issues swirling around Prime Minister Boris Johnson these days, the one that got stuck is the way he paid for an expensive makeover of his Downing Street apartment. And that put his 33-year-old fiancee, Carrie Symonds, in the particularly hot spot of attention.
Mr. Johnson has been accused in reports of secretly using funds from a Conservative Party donor to supplement his public budget for the apartment’s redecoration, a charge which, although Johnson says he repaid the money, prompted an investigation by of the Electoral Commission of the United Kingdom. But it’s Ms Symonds and her supposedly beloved taste for designer wallpaper and furniture that has become a recurring topic on social media and in UK tabloids.
“#CarrieAntoinette” is trending as a Twitter hashtag, while Labor leader Keir Starmer photographed himself studying wallpaper at UK department store John Lewis – a painstaking stunt meant to shed light on reports that Ms Symonds took. he mocked the Downing Street decor left by Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, as a John Lewis ‘nightmare’. ”
Never mind that Ms. Symonds was not quoted as saying anything about John Lewis. The reference, in a profile of her in Tatler magazine, is attributed to an anonymous person who visited her once at the apartment. Tatler reported that Ms. Symonds oversaw the renovation of the project, and her involvement means that she may also have to provide evidence to the Election Commission.
For Symonds, a former Conservative Party communications chief who now works for an animal rights group, this is the latest trial in a year filled with drama: Johnson’s illness – near death after contracting the coronavirus; the birth of their son, Wilfred; and the bitter purge of Johnson’s senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, in which she allegedly played a behind-the-scenes role.
All of this has placed Ms. Symonds at the heart of a family history, full of sexism and double standards: the partner of the greedy and manipulative politician. She joins a parade of women, from Hillary Clinton to Cherie Blair, the wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose whispers to her men have been the subject of feverish suspicion.
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The fact that her relationship with Johnson coincided with the breakdown of her 25-year marriage and that she became the first single couple to settle in Downing Street only adds to the Tabloid description of Ms Symonds as a libertine. Lady Macbeth or a Marie Antoinette. Ascending: choose your shot.
“The inordinate fascination with Carrie Symonds’ role in the Prime Minister’s Circle reflects outdated sexist tropes who view women in positions of influence as inherently devious,” said Sophia Gaston, director of the British Foreign Policy Group and researcher at the London School of Economics.
Her defenders say that as an accomplished political actor in her own right, Ms. Symonds has no less right to offer advice to the Prime Minister than to any other unpaid adviser, and it would be wise to accept it.
And yet, according to others, there are legitimate questions to be asked about Ms. Symonds’ influence, which goes beyond the obsessive reporting of the media’s attention to home improvement in Downing Street. His ardent defender of animal rights is said to have contributed to the government’s decision to end the slaughter of badgers in Derbyshire, contradicting the advice of scientists and veterinarians.
Friends of Mrs. Symonds have been installed in key positions in Downing Street and, according to Cummings’ account, protected by her even after the evidence of her wrongdoing. On his blog, he stated that Johnson wanted to close an investigation into the leaks after it became clear that the culprit was Henry Newman, a close adviser to Symonds.
Mr. Cummings quoted Mr. Johnson as saying, ‘If Newman is confirmed to be the fugitive, then I will have to fire him, and that will cause me a lot of serious trouble with Carrie because they are best friends. ”
Downing Street has denied that Mr Johnson tried to end the investigation , but he didn’t. Don’t comment on Ms. Symonds’s role.
His defenders say he has a shrewd political sense and could well have been running for a seat in Parliament had he not started a relationship with Johnson. Insofar as she gives him advice, some say it helps: Disappointing Cummings and other staunch Brexiters has softened the prime minister’s image and improved his popularity before recent problems with ethics return him to his larger role. family. like a political scoundrel.
“He was fantastic, he’s very loyal and he’s been very supportive,” said John Whittingdale, a former culture secretary for whom Ms. Symonds served as special advisor. He described her as “a very committed conservative” and a “very strong supporter of Brexit” at a time when it was a less popular position.
“People who attack Carrie clearly see a way to harm the Prime Minister by attacking him,” he said.
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Ms. Symonds suffers from some disadvantages, one of which is the lack of a job title for a prime minister’s partner. The role has no constitutional status and, unlike that of first lady in the United States, it has little administrative support. Successful spouses often have a strong identity outside of Downing Street.
Margaret Thatcher’s husband, Denis, was a businessman, as was Mrs. May’s husband, Philip. David Cameron’s wife, Samantha, ran a fashion business, while Blair, who once had political ambitions of her own, worked as a high-profile lawyer during her husband’s decade in power. Although Ms. Blair’s influence was criticized from the start, her scrutiny was calmed as she built a thriving legal career.
“She always knew she could go back to working at the bar, which made it less degrading to be the appendix,” said Fiona Millar, a journalist and Ms Blair’s assistant. Ms. Symonds, she said, “doesn’t seem to have that life outside of politics that successful people have had.
Daughter of Matthew Symonds, co-founder of The Independent newspaper and lawyer for the newspaper, Josephine McAfee, Ms Symonds was raised by her mother (both parents were married to other people at the time).
Her young adulthood was deeply affected by an incident in 2007 when she was attacked by a taxi driver who served her fortified drinks while driving home. Ms. Symonds testified against the man, John Worboys, who was incarcerated as a serial sexual predator.
Well connected and social, Ms. Symonds became a Conservative Party public relations assistant, eventually becoming a communications manager, where he met Mr. Johnson. The couple hoped to get married last summer, after their navy-wheeled portion became final, but delayed the date due to coronavirus restrictions.
less glamorous than it sounds, given Mrs. Millar clarified. While the job comes with a spacious Westminster apartment, a stately weekend home, Checkers and an annual decorating budget of £ 30,000 ($ 41,600), the government doesn’t pay for food or cleaning service. Outside of public occasions, the couple have to cook themselves or buy takeout.
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Living on the desk, while Mr. Johnson battled the pandemic and his own illness, was challenging, people who know what, said Ms. Symonds. She contracted Covid herself while pregnant, and then cared for her baby while Johnson, 56, was still recovering from her illness.
“There were times last week that were really very dark,” Ms. Symonds tweeted after being discharged from an intensive care unit. Despite this, he maintained his interest in protecting the environment.
“Since Wilf was unable to visit the stores to close them,” he posted four months later, “I relied on Amazon to buy many baby essentials, but was appalled at the amount of plastic packaging. Sign this petition to ask Amazon to also tell us. provide plastic-free options ”.
Political commentators say come to Ms. Symonds gives acceptance of Mr. Johnson’s green policies. They say he played with his pragmatic instinct by pushing him toward a more conciliatory policy.
Few of the Prime Minister’s associates have been so deeply involved in politics. Not only does he know the Conservative Party well, but he also has strong contacts among its legislators, political journalists, and special advisers who play important roles in Downing Street and elsewhere in government.
Steven Fielding, professor of political history at the University of Nottingham, said that people questioned the influence of Ms Symonds “because of her specific knowledge and connections and her experience as a political agent and because of the Boris Johnson shopping center facilities, and the fact that no one knows what is in his head.
A part of the concern for Ms. Symonds has as much to do with Mr. Johnson as it does with her. With few fixed positions and a lack of ideological anchors, he leaves the impression that his decisions can be influenced by those who have more access to him. During a year of confinement, that circle has sometimes been narrowed down to Mrs. Symonds.
“The reason we’re arguing about this is that we think we have a smaller number as Prime Minister,” Jill Rutter, a former UK research official in a changing Europe, told a London think tank. “If we thought we have a very good prime minister, would we really care about his wife’s identity, beyond hoping that she has a happy personal life?
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