DOMINIC Cummings has supported allegations that Boris Johnson tried to hire his now-wife to a government role while he was foreign secretary – and claims it wasn't the only time.
According to a report in The Times on Saturday – which was mysteriously pulled from later editions of the paper – Johnson tried in 2018 to appoint Carrie Johnson, then called Carrie Symonds, as his £100,000-a-year chief of staff.
The idea is said to have been kiboshed by his advisers. At the time, Johnson was married to his second wife Marina Wheeler.
The story was not uploaded to The Times website. A re-written version of the article did appear on the Mail Online, but was also taken down.
That’s despite the key elements of the story having already been published in Lord Ashcroft's biography of Carrie Johnson. A serialisation of the book, including the claims about Johnson’s attempt to hire his now-wife, remains available to read on the Mail Online website.
Cummings, the Prime Minister’s former senior aide, has backed the initial Times report. He alleges it was pulled following an intervention from Number 10, and claimed Johnson wanted to appoint then-fiancée to a government role as recently as the third quarter of 2020, during the height of the pandemic.
Cummings tweeted: “The 'missing story' (pulled by Times after no10 call Fri night) is true”, adding: “Truth is worse! [Johnson] wanted to appoint girlfriend to gvt job in Q3 2020 too.”
News UK has declined to comment on why the story was removed from later editions of the Times.
Renowned investigative journalist Simon Walters, who wrote the Times article, told the Guardian and New European that he stands by the story. He said neither Downing Street nor representatives of Carrie Johnson denied the claims on the record when he approached them.
A Downing Street insider also told the Guardian that the story was accurate.
Carrie Johnson has since denied the Times story. “These claims are totally untrue,” a spokesperson said.
Number 10 initially declined to give an official response, but a source told the Guardian: “This is a grubby, discredited story turned down by most reputable media outlets because it isn’t true. The facts speak for themselves.”
The Prime Minister’s spokesperson on Monday acknowledged there had been contact between Downing Street and The Times before and after the story was published.
Asked whether there were conversations after its initial publication specifically, the spokesperson told reporters: “That’s my understanding”.
He refused to say “who spoke to who”, but denied that it was Johnson himself.
Asked whether Johnson attempted to give his now-wife a Government job while he was in Downing Street, his spokesperson said: “Again my understanding is that claim is also untrue but these claims have been reported before and denied."
