Team Carrie slam ‘bitter ex-officials’ they claim are behind new biography by Lord Ashcroft
Team Carrie slam ‘bitter ex-officials’ they claim are behind ‘brutal briefing campaign’ in bombshell new biography by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft
Lord Ashcroft’s biography is serialised in The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday The book gives a vivid insider story of in-fighting over her alleged influenceIt says Boris Johnson enrages advisers by allowing Carrie to influence policies Spokesperson for Carrie has slammed ‘bitter ex-officials over ‘cruel’ allegations
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Carrie Johnson has slammed ‘bitter ex-officials’ she has claimed are behind a ‘brutal briefing campaign’ in a bombshell new biography by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft.
Downing Street insiders in the biography, serialised in the Mail on Sunday, have suggested Mrs Johnson, 33, wields huge power within Whitehall and have warned that ‘if she doesn’t like you, there can be big consequences’.
The book, First Lady: Intrigue at the Court of Carrie and Boris Johnson, says the Prime Minister enrages advisers by allowing his wife to influence policies and appointments.
However, a spokesperson for Ms Johnson hit out today, saying the ‘cruel’ allegations were ‘just the latest attempt by bitter ex-officials’ to discredit her.
They added: ‘She is a private individual who plays no role in government.’
The Prime Minister, who is said in the book to be ‘completely mesmerised’ by his wife, is understood to also be furious.
Lord Ashcroft’s biography says Mr Johnson cuts a ‘lonely’ figure and is surrounded by Carrie’s close friends, who are now among his most influential aides.
The book advances the theory that faultlines in her relationship with the Prime Minister have had an impact on No 10, with one source describing it as ‘a Greek tragedy’.
It follows allegations over her involvement in ‘Wallpapergate’, the redecoration of their No11 flat, and her role in the evacuation of animals from the Nowzad charity in Afghanistan.
Boris Johnson’s survival battle is set to be dealt another blow by the publication of a biography by Lord Ashcroft portraying him as little more than the puppet of his 33-year-old wife Carrie
The Prime Minister is understood to believe that Lord Ashcroft (pictured at Tory Party Conference) has been spun a tissue of lies by disgruntled former No 10 advisers
On the claims that Mr Johnson was unhappy in his relationship, the spokesman added: ‘Yet more deliberately hurtful smears which are far removed from reality. The opposite is in fact the truth. Mr and Mrs Johnson have a very emotionally supportive relationship.’ Pictured: The Johnsons at Conservative Party Conference, Manchester Central
The biography also comes as Mr Johnson fights to stay in No 10 following the resignation of five aides in 24 hours and the growing drumbeat of speculation that he could face a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
The Prime Minister, though, is understood to believe that Lord Ashcroft has been spun a tissue of lies by disgruntled former No 10 advisers.
And in a series of strongly-worded rebuttals earlier this week, a spokesperson for Mrs Johnson claimed the book contained ‘vile fabrications’ which were ‘designed to humiliate and discredit Mrs Johnson’, while other stories amounted to ‘baseless tittle tattle’ and ‘offensive nonsense’.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said today that Mrs Johnson was ‘under scrutiny in a way
He told Times Radio: ‘The reportage that somehow she’s got undue influence, I don’t think that’s true.
‘The Prime Minister has been in politics for 25 years and has a pretty strong set of ideas.’
The front cover of Lord Ashcroft’s biography, which is being serialised in The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday
Lord Ashcroft’s book gives a vivid insider story of in-fighting over Mrs Johnson’s influence, and the rows over the appointment of Allegra Stratton to lead No 10 press conferences.
The conflict culminated in the dramatic resignation of chief aide Dominic Cummings in 2020.
According to Lord Ashcroft’s account, the frustrations at Mr Johnson’s then girlfriend’s apparent influence first emerged during his six-week campaign for the Tory leadership in 2019.
It includes claims that Mrs Johnson would use her husband’s mobile phone ‘to try to direct and control events’.
But reacting to the claims in Lord Ashcroft’s book today, friends of Mrs Johnson have described the claims as ‘misogynistic and cruel’, while Mr Johnson is said to be angry at the perceived ‘hit job.’
Despite the allegations, Lord Ashcroft does refer admiringly to Carrie’s ‘courage and determination,’ as evidenced in her instrumental role ensuring sex-offender Warboys stayed behind bars, in speaking openly of her own experience of a 2021 miscarriage and her work for animal protection, saying the complaints against her are about use of power without electoral accountability.
