Boris Johnson lobbied for a job for a young woman who claims he abused his power to have sex with her.
The then Mayor of London and MP for Henley intervened for her to get a job at City Hall, weeks after meeting the girl and taking her to his office in Parliament.
The appointment was blocked because Johnson’s colleague, newly appointed Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse, said they appeared to have an inappropriately close relationship.
Years later, Johnson admitted he pushed her for the job when she confronted him in his office in 2017 at the height of the #MeToo scandal.
The case is the latest example of Johnson using his political influence to lobby for women with whom he has had undisclosed personal relationships. Last month, it was reported that Johnson pushed for his wife, Carrie Symonds, 34, to secure a role as his chief of staff at the Foreign Office while the pair had an affair in 2018. He also helped Jennifer Arcuri , 37, an American graduate, to take advantage of taxpayer-funded travel after they tied the knot in 2011.
Johnson met the woman in parliament on November 7, 2017, after she texted him saying they needed to talk.
The woman told Johnson she was uncomfortable with the brief affair they had had in 2008. At the time, Johnson was 43, the newly elected mayor of London and the Conservative MP for Henley-on-Thames. He was married with four children.
She was a graduate in her twenties and had recently moved to London while working in temporary roles. She felt the Conservative party was her “new family” and became involved as an activist, volunteering to work on his successful mayoral campaign.
She decided to record the confrontation with Johnson in 2017 so that no one would be able to refute or dispute her claims. The woman, now a legal professional and married mother of two, spent years debating whether to go public. She approached The Sunday Times in April and chose to go ahead with publishing the story a week ago after concluding that MPs and the public should know about his behaviour. She remains anonymous for legal reasons.
During their date, she told Johnson she was “really shocked and upset” about what had happened between them, telling him it was an example of how any young woman who “goes into this building is a fair game” and there it must be “taught” by powerful people. She explained her regret that their relationship had become sexual when she simply wanted to be known for who she was and her interest in politics. She said that I will “defend myself”.
She then described how they had originally met and had a liaison in his parliamentary office. Johnson confirmed they had seen each other at Tory party events and later had a chance meeting in central London before inviting her to what she thought was a social drink at the Palace of Westminster. asked if he remembered those details, he said: “Yes.”
The woman then recalled: “I wanted to get into politics, you said you’d get me a job at City Hall – do you remember going for an interview with Kit Malthouse?” Malthouse was Johnson’s deputy mayor of London for police at the time.
Johnson quickly admitted that he had lobbied on behalf of the woman, who secured an interview a few weeks after their meeting. He said to her: “Can I say something? I suggested you for a role and was very disappointed when you didn’t get the role. I remember.”
He continued: “I suggested you for the job and I really wanted Kit to interview you and I remember Kit interviewing you. I asked him about it afterwards, repeatedly, why he hadn’t given you the job and I was very disappointed that he hadn’t. I remember. And I’m afraid one of the reasons he gave was that he thought you were too friendly with me.”
Despite this admission, Johnson simultaneously claimed that he did nothing improper or did anything to benefit her in an “abnormal” way: “I think you really would have felt it was an abuse of power and an abuse of friendship”.
The woman says she secured an interview for a role at the Greater London Authority just weeks after her meeting with Johnson. It was chaired by a three-person panel chaired by Malthouse. She was asked to prepare a draft of a meeting for a mock plenary session, but did not know “what to say” and was unqualified for the post. She did not succeed.
Johnson went on to suggest that women could secure a role in politics through their association. Later in 2008, he sent her a text message saying: “I need you as much as my writer – what do you say?” It is unclear whether the talks progressed beyond Johnson’s initial suggestion.
Last week, Johnson responded to criticism of the appointment of Chris Pincher as deputy leader of the Conservative Party by telling the House of Commons that “I abhor … the abuse of power anywhere in parliament, in this party or any other party”.
Today’s revelations will put those claims under fresh strain and spark calls for an investigation by parliamentary or City of London authorities. According to Cabinet Office guidelines, people involved in public appointments must act with “integrity” and “merit”: this means declaring any relevant interests or relationships and considering candidates whose “experiences and qualities have been judged to meet the needs of the public body or statutory office in question”.
Johnson’s relationship with his wife in 2008 quickly soured. She lost her role during the financial crisis, left her flat in London and returned to her hometown to start over.
She spent years dwelling on what happened before the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein emerged in 2017, sparking the #MeToo movement and the Westminster scandal. She witnessed conversations about the abuse of power in politics and felt that she suddenly had the language to articulate her thoughts and feelings.
It was in this context that she decided to confront Johnson. After agreeing to meet him and arriving at his parliamentary office, she soon told him she was considering reporting her experience to Theresa May, the then prime minister. Johnson initially suggested he wouldn’t support her on her path, telling her: “Well, obviously I can’t advise you on that. This is an issue, this is an issue for you.”
But he then asked, “What do you see as the way forward? Okay, okay, so there are a lot of solutions. You can go to Theresa May and say Boris Johnson is a bastard and everything else is fine, and I wouldn’t say anything.” He suggested they keep in touch and continue their conversation.
He also reacted with fury at her and shouted when she suggested he had initially been reluctant to meet her, saying: “I’ve been extremely busy! I tried to meet you the other day! Jesus is fooling around. I wanted to meet you!”
Johnson also apologized repeatedly, saying: “I am very, very sorry. And I definitely feel like I’ve been very insensitive. There is absolutely no doubt about it.”
He denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I don’t believe I was malicious and I don’t believe I would have been aggressive or anything like that. I think that would not be fair.” He even told her: “Whatever happened, I don’t remember myself behaving in any way inappropriately … really not. I think in all conscience you would agree to that.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “This has nothing to do with his time as prime minister. There is no public interest as I see it. And we don’t talk about his private life.”
Taken from The Times
Translated by: Balkanweb
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