..the now PM focused more on seeking to get his women money or positions of privilege than doing the job. Today’s revelations in the Times highlight how the PM sought to appoint Carrie (Symonds as was) with whom it was known he was having an affair, to a significant role in the Foreign office while he was Foreign Sec. This was directly against the ministerial code. In addition she lacked either the qualifications or experience for this £100kpa role! Colleagues prevented it from happening. So this is the person who ‘make all the right calls’?
Former top civil servant Simon Case admits trying to find a well paid job for Carrie Johnson
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/23/simon-case-challenged-over-role-in-pms-alleged-attempts-to-find-jobs-for-his-wife
Today's Telegraph has a follow-on story -
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/06/21/exclusive-attempt-secure-carrie-johnson-role-prince-williams/
When the £100k appointment didn't wash, there was an attempt to get Carrie into the Cambridges' Earthshot charity - but their staff thought it would be "inappropriate".
Yes, you’re right Lovetopaint. I was mistaken, apologies, he resigned over the Iraqi war. He dumped his wife of 28 years in favour of his mistress who worked for him. I read the book his wife wrote it about a few years ago.
Lovetopaint037
maddyone
I don’t know the answer to that RichmondPark.Times have changed over the years. It would certainly have been a firing offence years ago. I remember at least one minister being sacked (or forced to resign) in Thatcher’s government. Cecil Parkinson was his name, but I think there was another one, but I can’t remember his name. Today? I don’t know. Actually didn’t Robin Cooke resign from Blair’s government for a similar offence? I don’t know the expectations for today. Maybe after Hancock it would be expected.
I remember Robin Cook resigning over the Iraq war.
Yes he did, his resignation was over the decision to go to war in Iraq.
He didn't resign when he was forced to admit his affair with his secretary and confess to his wife, apparently after a conversation with Alistair Campbell.
I liked Robin Cook and was surprised to hear about his affair(s).
maddyone
I don’t know the answer to that RichmondPark.Times have changed over the years. It would certainly have been a firing offence years ago. I remember at least one minister being sacked (or forced to resign) in Thatcher’s government. Cecil Parkinson was his name, but I think there was another one, but I can’t remember his name. Today? I don’t know. Actually didn’t Robin Cooke resign from Blair’s government for a similar offence? I don’t know the expectations for today. Maybe after Hancock it would be expected.
I remember Robin Cook resigning over the Iraq war.
Whitewavemark2
“While his wife of 26 years and mother of four of his kids was having multiple operations and treatment for cancer, Johnson was trying to appoint his mistress as his £100k pa, Chief of Staff.
The guy DRIPS WITH ETHICS. Of course he doesn't need an adviser.”
Agree absolutely.
Sunday: Paul Dacre gets a call from No 10 instructing him to drop the Carrie Story.
Tuesday: Paul Dacre gets a call from number 10 to offer him a place in the House of Lords.
David Mellor resigned from John Major's government but in addition to his sex scandal he had accepted a holiday from someone linked to the PLO. Perhaps a sex scandal has never quite been enough on its own.
I don’t know the answer to that RichmondPark.Times have changed over the years. It would certainly have been a firing offence years ago. I remember at least one minister being sacked (or forced to resign) in Thatcher’s government. Cecil Parkinson was his name, but I think there was another one, but I can’t remember his name. Today? I don’t know. Actually didn’t Robin Cooke resign from Blair’s government for a similar offence? I don’t know the expectations for today. Maybe after Hancock it would be expected.
maddyone
RichmondPark
Apparently they were caught in his office in a compromising position by colleagues. Something Matt Hancock resigned over.
Yes that’s true. However the furore over Matt Hancock was really about Covid. The rest of the country were still being told to maintain safe working practices such as social distancing, masks, and screens in workplaces, whilst Matt Hancock was caught on video applying none of these precautions.
I agree.
A married minister caught on camera up against his office door with his hands all over his mistress. I wonder if, by current standards, this would have resulted in his resignation during non-Covid times?
Isn't it obvious Boz?
Whitewavemark2
“Boris Johnson was unfaithful to his partner in 2016.
And to partners in 1992, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020...
And they’re just the reported affairs.
But you trust him?
Are you implying we are led by a dick?
“Boris Johnson was unfaithful to his partner in 2016.
And to partners in 1992, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020...
And they’re just the reported affairs.
But you trust him?
Lord Geldt has said that who succeeds him should investigate these claims around Johnson trying to push his latest wife into plum jobs.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-carrie-job-lord-geidt-b2105770.html
Labour will use a vote today to try and force Johnson into appointing an independent ethics adviser, chosen by MPs.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10937343/Labour-attempt-FORCE-Boris-Johnson-accept-new-ethics-advisor-chosen-MPs.html
Just make sure he goes at the next election, that's all. Know that he will fight like a dog to get re-elected, that sort always do. No scruples, no moral compass whatsoever.
It seems he's tried to get her other jobs as well:
"Boris Johnson talked to Downing Street aides about getting his wife Carrie two plum jobs, sources claim.
The Prime Minister is said to have raised possible new environmental roles for her in autumn 2020, either on the COP 26 summit or with the Royal Family.
It follows allegations he tried to make her his £100,000-a-year chief of staff two years earlier, when he was Foreign Secretary and she was his girlfriend.
Now sources say the PM wanted to get her a job as a green ambassador in the run-up to the global climate summit in Glasgow. They claim his second idea was to line her up as communications director for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Earthshot Prize.
The insiders suggest he wanted Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, who had previously been Prince William’s private secretary, to “take soundings”.
But the PM’s closest advisers were said to have vetoed both suggestions, warning either position could undermine his wife’s status as a private citizen.
Mrs Johnson was on maternity leave at the time from conservation charity Oceana, after having first child Wilf."
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-suggested-two-plum-27285766
Casdon
MaizieD
Do we actually believe anything a prime minister's spokesman says these days?
I expect it was either June or September when he tried to get his wife a government job, not June or July MaizieD - when the story comes out in full the spokesperson can then say they were telling the truth….
She wasn't his wife then. She was one of his bits on the side...
He was married to someone else at the time...
MaizieD
Do we actually believe anything a prime minister's spokesman says these days?
I expect it was either June or September when he tried to get his wife a government job, not June or July MaizieD - when the story comes out in full the spokesperson can then say they were telling the truth….
Do we actually believe anything a prime minister's spokesman says these days?
The Huff Post have also got an article:
'It is understood the pair were in a relationship at the time, although Johnson was still married to his previous wife, Marina Wheeler.
The idea was reportedly scrapped after Johnson’s advisers intervened.
The Times published the story in its first edition on Saturday, but it did not run in later editions or online.
The PM’s official spokesman today confirmed that Number 10 contacted The Times after the story appeared.
He said: “We were approached before publication. We spoke to them after publication as well. I don’t know the exact timeline of it.”
However, the spokesman insisted the PM did not contact the paper himself.
He also said that while he could not comment on what Johnson did before he became PM, Downing Street officials and Carrie Johnson’s spokeswoman have denied the Times story.
He said: “I would point you to the denials and statements put out by Mrs Johnson on this and other Number colleagues over the weekend.”
Simon Walters, the journalist who write the story, told The Guardian: “I stand by the story. I went to all the relevant people over two days. Nobody offered me an on-the-record denial and Downing St didn’t deny it off the record either.”
The prime minister’s spokesman also said claims by Dominic Cummings that the PM had tried to get his wife a government job between July and September, 2020, were “untrue”.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/downing-street-denies-boris-johnson-job-carrie-johnson_uk_62b03959e4b06169ca9b6e12
It becomes more of a scandal because it’s being suppressed. They are dumb not to realise that.
Carriegate: No 10 admits pressuring The Times to drop Carrie Johnson story
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-carriegate-times-story-b2105025.html?utm_content=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Main&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1655727084
That is so interesting CvD66, they are desperately trying to suppress the story, especially with by-elections coming up.
You also mentioned on another post about how Johnson was very conveniently disappearing off to Ukraine every time something against him was going to appear in the press. He seems to be using the Ukraine and its poor people as a distraction for his own failures, which could also prove very dangerous for the UK.
People need to know this story about Carrie Johnson, so that we can be rid of this odious prime minister. Everyone needs to be aware of every misdemeanour he has tried to cover up, and is still attempting to.
Alan Duncan’s book/diaries (The Thick of It) was reviewed in the Guardian April 2021. Also serialised in the Daily Mail.
Not a glowing one.
maddyone
I didn’t say it was an excuse though did I Maizie? I believe that nepotism is wrong wherever it is found, in government, the royal family, or the workplace. It’s wrong in my opinion.
When I first left school my mother who worked on Debenams got me a job as the office junior ,didn't realise untill this thread that it qualifies as nepotism
Registering is free, easy, and means you can join the discussion, watch threads and lots more.
Register now »Already registered? Log in with:
Gransnet »Get our top conversations, latest advice, fantastic competitions, and more, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
