Boris Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds has effectively become his Downing Street chief of staff. Her unelected and unaccountable role in Government is damaging to democracy, according to Nic Conner, who worked with Miss Symonds on the Brexit campaign.
Nic insisted that he has no grudge against Symonds’s and was not being sexist, but is concerned she is acting unconstitutionally as friends are hired and rivals fired inside No 10.
A conservative think tank ‘The Bow Group’ has called for an independent inquiry into Symonds and her possible influence in government. The Bow Group said No 10 needed to clarify her position after reports in the media that she was “taking a central role in running the country”.
Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the Bow Group, said Ms. Symonds has not been elected, she has not been appointed, and she holds no legal or constitutional powers to make decisions relating to who should hold government posts.
Johnson and Symonds announced their engagement in February 2020 and they live together in Downing Street with their son Wilfred, who was born in April last year. Ms. Symonds has no official role, either in the party or the government.
