Carrie Johnson - time to resign

[PersonaNonGarter]

I realise she isn’t an elected politician, but Carrie Johnson gives me red mist. It’s a combination of her smug OW-ness and the flat refurbishment and general influence on the staff hires at Number 10. And the fact that she is so unaccountable.

YABU - it’s misfired anger, Boris is ultimately responsible for everything including his wife

YANBU - she has agency and influence and hiring an £££ interior designer was hardly Boris’s idea was it

We are discussing person of influence at the heart of Downing St

What's your evidence of her 'influence'?

Boris is the typical sad old fool besotted with his new younger wife.
For sure that hideous refurbishment of their flat was at her instigation.
But it was upto him to fall back on his dodgy deals to provide the funds.
This will be the story of their relationship.
For now it is in the public interest. When he finally goes too far and gets the boot, then it will be of no public interest, and hopefully they'll just fade away.

So I would re-phrase the OP as 'Carrie Johnson; if she is exerting as much influence on government as parts of the press would have us believe, it's time for Boris to resign'.

Yes and from the end of the piece Carrie Johnson's influence may be to be thanked for a smoother running government, possibly.
So go that woman!

@Peregrina

Another poster said it - did critics of Theresa May blame Philip, or of Margaret Thatcher, Denis?

Private Eye parodied Denis in their Dear Bill pages as a gin-soaked buffoon under the thumb of his wife. You could see that they were really getting at Mrs T herself. Now when Blair came along, they parodied Blair himself as a trendy vicar.

Yes, but that's not the same as blaming their spouses for the actions of the office holders.

The opposite in fact. The depiction of Denis by Private Eye / Spitting Image etc showed Thatcher as (in their view) a ball breaker at home as well as at work.

I'm sure they'll bounce on to great success wherever they land next.

As in the Johnsons.

@lottiegarbanzo

So I would re-phrase the OP as 'Carrie Johnson; if she is exerting as much influence on government as parts of the press would have us believe, it's time for Boris to resign'.

Yes. Well put.

For those who think Sunak might be a better bet than Johnson, read this and other articles. He is more venal than the current incumbent. Just think about how people become billionaires.

amp.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/14/new-chancellor-rishi-sunak-challenged-over-hedge-fund-past

And I’m no Johnson supporter, haven’t ever voted Tory and never will. I’m currently politically homeless (was Lib Dem) but until women and girls are protected, none of the bastards will get my vote.

Some of the comments on here are dreadful and show women themselves are responsible for as much misogyny as men.

She is no less/more responsible than ANY other partner of a PM, male or female, or any other politician or senior executive for that matter. Don’t remember Mr May being picked up in his ‘dowdy suits’ and undue influence on Theresa although I guess there was sufficient bitching about her suits and outfits directly

The difference is BJ is elected and as such that comes with the civil service code governing standards of behaviour from holding a public office - and much more besides probably for a PM.

Save your wrath for the person really accountable and stop being a bitch.

"Stop being a bitch" is quite a funny touch to a post bemoaning misogyny.

Stop bring a bitch? Isn't that a misogynistic term. At least practise what you preach.

Resign from what? Professional old bloke shagger??

Resigning from decorating would be a start given the state of the pictures of their pad in the press.

@ItchySnoof

There's a huge difference between holding a person doing a job responsible and blaming family members for their influence. Like, if my mum gives me some advice about my job, I can take or leave the advice but if I do follow her advice and it goes wrong, then I'm the one to blame not my mum.

@StrangerThanSpring but then again your Mum (or spouse and child) wouldn't be attending "work meetings" with you, as it has nothing to do with them and they shouldn't have been there (but then again we all know it wasn't a work meeting ).

But we don't know she was actually attending the work meeting. She might have just popped over to say hi.

If she was attending the meeting and having her say then a better question would be isn't this inappropriate and should be stopped? Which is maybe what the OP is asking in a roundabout way, but again it's on Boris if he's letting his wife attend work meetings if she doesn't have an official role.

Wet telling if the world we live in when the PM continues to break all the rules but people believe that his wife should be sacked from her charity job

Let me ask - what is it actually gonna take before a man is held accountable for his actions and not the next woman.

Anyone who’s married to him must share his belief in his own importance and agree with his ridiculousness so YANBU. She’s a grown woman who chose to marry the buffoon running the country, hope she gets even half of what she deserves for that choice

• very not wet

Lets stop the fiction that the meeting was for work. No files or paperwork in front of them, but wine glasses in evidence. Unless they have gone into the business of wine tasting.

The problem is not Carrie per se, although I agree she comes across as a very unlikeable, smug, self serving person. The greater problem is that no politicians, including Boris, are ever really held to account for their actions and decisions whilst in office.

They can, it seems, lie to us, lie to each other, even to the Queen, f* up the country, fill their mates' pockets, make a pigs ear of almost anything, and when the shit starts to fly back in their faces they just breeze off, legally untouchable, into 7 figure jobs (courtesy of their now richer-than-ever friends) and suffer no repercussions whilst the rest of us suffer the consequences, financial and otherwise.

Until politicians are held legally, criminally, accountable, politics is always going to be an ever growing mire of corruption, deceit and self serving power hungry d*heads who care primarily about helping themselves before anyone else.

@AlexaShutUp

I don’t have a high opinion of her at all. For one thing, she has terrible judgement, as evidenced by her choice of husband. I also suspect that the stories about her exerting an excessive influence are true.

However, the real problem is Boris. He is the elected politician and he is responsible for his actions as prime minister. Nobody else. Once he goes, which will hopefully be soon, then the Carrie problem will resolve itself.

^^ This. Johnson is responsible for every action he takes-or chooses not to- as PM.

I saw the pictures of their date night. I thought she looked so happy and he looked so very bored. I felt a bit sorry for her then.

Peregrina
Lets stop the fiction that the meeting was for work. No files or paperwork in front of them, but wine glasses in evidence. Unless they have gone into the business of wine tasting.

A French diplomat later said that Macron used the working lunch...

thehill.com/homenews/administration/458671-trump-macron-hold-lunch-to-kick-off-g-7-meeting

Your partners boss and company thinks you should resign your job, because they don't like you and they don't like things people on Facebook say about you.
Seems fair as exactly the same thing your saying.