Boris Johnson faces questions of character
Tory leadership campaign focus shifts as senior Tories question frontrunner’s suitability for Number 10

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Boris Johnson’s failure to address questions about a police call out to the flat of his girlfriend following an alleged row on Thursday threatens to derail his Tory leadership bid, as polls show support for his challenger Jeremy Hunt growing.
The Guardian reported on Friday that police had been called to the south London flat Johnson shares with his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, after neighbours dialled 999 after overhearing a loud altercation.
Yet despite dominating Saturday’s front pages, at the first Tory leadership hustings in Birmingham later that day, the former foreign secretary repeatedly refused to answer questions about the incident. In a tetchy exchange with LBC’s Iain Dale, who was hosting the event, Johnson was accused of “completely avoiding” the issue after telling the audience that people did not “want to hear about that kind of thing”. When pressed on whether understanding his character was important in the battle to replace Theresa May, Johnson insisted he would only talk about his plans “for the country and our party”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The decision by Symonds’ neighbours to record the row and then leak it has drawn questions about their motives. Amid a growing backlash from some sections of the media, Tom Penn broke cover to defend himself over the weekend, saying he gave his recording to The Guardian because Johnson should be “held accountable” for all of his “words, actions, and behaviours”.
The playwright has been described by the Daily Telegraph as “left-wing”. The paper reports his wife, Eve Leigh, “a pro-EU theatre producer and writer, has bragged on social media about an incident in which she made a rude gesture to Johnson outside their building in south London” and has also “defended Jeremy Corbyn against claims of anti-Semitism and earlier this year one of her plays featured in Brexit Stage Left, a pro-EU festival with European funding”.
Friends of Symonds said her anger over the incident was directed at Penn and Leigh rather than Johnson, The Times reports. They said she believed her neighbours’ decision to record the incident and give the tape to a left-wing newspaper was a “dirty tricks story”.
James Cleverly, the former party chairman, appeared to suggest the call to the police was in order to cause trouble for the Tory frontrunner.
“The big element in the Boris story isn’t that there was a heated argument, it’s that the police were called,” Cleverly said.
Yet whatever his neighbour’s motivations, Johnson’s failure to address questions around the incident has prompted some senior Tories to raise fresh concerns about his suitability for Number 10.
Foreign office minister Alan Duncan, who worked under Johnson during his time as foreign secretary, said his old boss now had a “big question mark over his head” adding that he had shown a “lack of discipline” throughout his career.
Speaking to BBC's Andrew Marr, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, who is backing Jeremy Hunt, said it would be “easier” for Johnson to “just give an explanation” about the row. Meanwhile former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind said Johnson risked looking like he had something to hide.
“If you are a candidate to be prime minister and the police have been called to your house – fairly or unfairly – the fact is there was a police visit. You don’t just say ‘no comment’. That implies you may have something you don't want to disclose,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
The story “has shifted the Tory leadership focus firmly onto character” says Politico, “sending many Conservatives into a quiet panic”.
The Mail on Sunday says leadership contender Jeremy Hunt “has made no secret that he hopes to make the head-to-head Tory leadership battle against Johnson all about character”.
While refusing to comment directly on Johnson’s private life, Hunt nevertheless said his rival did not “deserve” to lead the country unless he answered questions about his “character”.
In what the Sunday Times calls “an astonishing escalation of hostilities”, cabinet allies of Hunt claimed that Johnson’s colourful private life meant he was a security risk and vulnerable to blackmail from foreign powers.
In a sign this strategy could pay dividends for Hunt’s campaign, more than half of Tory voters have said Johnson's private life was relevant to his ability to be prime minister and three-quarters said a candidate's character was relevant to the contest.
The survey for The Mail on Sunday, found Johnson’s lead among Tory voters as the man who would make the best prime minister has more than halved, from a 27-point lead to just 11 since Thursday, with Hunt taking the lead among the wider public.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
What to know when filing a hurricane insurance claim
The Explainer A step-by-step to figure out what insurance will cover and what else you can do beyond filing a claim
By Becca Stanek Published
-
How fees impact your investment portfolio — and how to save on them
The Explainer Even seemingly small fees can take a big bite out of returns
By Becca Stanek Published
-
Enemy without
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will Rishi Sunak's green wedge issue win over the public?
Today's Big Question The PM draws dividing line with Labour on net zero ahead of the next general election
By Sorcha Bradley Published
-
Industry backlash as Sunak set to water down green pledges
Speed Read Automotive and energy bosses look for clarity after PM backs away from UK net zero goal
By Arion McNicoll Published
-
October by-elections: what's at stake for Labour, Lib Dems and Tories
Parties will contest two former safe Tory seats on 19 October, putting pressure on Rishi Sunak
By Harriet Marsden Published
-
'If Starmer seeks advice from Macron then God help Britain'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week Staff Published
-
Liz Truss and the battle for the Tory grassroots
Talking Point Former PM's speech stirs talk of a comeback but prompts 'furious response from some colleagues'
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
'The Tories are getting working-class conservatives wrong'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week Staff Published
-
Jobs for the boys: does the UK need a minister for men?
Conservative MP calls for dedicated cabinet role to combat 'crisis' in men's mental health and education
By Harriet Marsden Published
-
Rishi Sunak: will culture war win election?
Talking Point By fighting dirty, the Conservatives may succeed merely in driving a wedge between themselves and the electorate
By The Week Staff Published