The role of the Prime Minister’s partner: Can Carrie Symonds bring calm now Dominic Cummings is gone? - Jayne Dowle

Suddenly, everybody is talking about the role of the PM’s spouse; how far the ‘First Other Half’ might go in influencing decisions at the highest political level, how much interference they should have in running Downing Street, and at what point their own ambition and that of their other half might meet in common purpose or diverge, perhaps with tumultuous consequences.

Not since it was revealed that Cherie Booth, eminent barrister and wife of two-term Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, had a secret eBay shoe-shopping habit has the role of the PM’s significant other been as interesting. Ms Booth’s 2004 book charting the history of Prime Ministerial couplings was called The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister, for good reason. Her successor, Sarah Brown, wife of Gordon, kept a low profile, devoting herself to charity work.

Samantha Cameron famously hated the cramped quarters of Downing Street and preferred escaping to the country.

Philip May’s most public role was to accompany his wife, Theresa, on ruminative walks in rural Wales. Like Mr May, Denis let his wife get on with the job. However, both were undoubtedly sounding boards. There’s one story that Mrs Thatcher brought home the books of the troubled vehicle manufacturer British Leyland for her husband to cast over his experienced eye – his family owned a paint firm and he held various directorships.

Still, various biographical sources suggest that it was convenient for them both to allow people to see Mr T as more interested in golf and G&T than matters of state. Yet in his (mostly) quiet way, he was a pioneer; the first man to be married to a British Prime Minister, ever. Carrie Symonds also breaks the mould. At 32, she’s the youngest Prime Ministerial spouse in 173 years and one half of the first unmarried couple to make their home above the Number 10 shop.

Arguably, she is also the first to so openly and obviously intervene in matters of government. If reports are to be believed, she joined forces with the Prime Minister’s new press secretary, former ITN journalist Allegra Stratton, to orchestrate the departure of Mr Johnson’s chief political adviser, Dominic Cummings, and his colleague Lee Cain, both proponents of the aggressive ‘Vote Leave’ agenda. Ms Symonds – it is said – disagreed with their obdurate stance on impending Brexit and a number of other matters, not least of which was the deteriorating public image of her partner, the Prime Minister. And now they have gone and she is undoubtedly, still there.

It is very true that no-one knows what really goes on in a partnership, or marriage, except the two people in it. We can’t possibly conjecture their private conversations, although it’s fun to imagine. And up to now few people know much about Carrie Symonds except that she is the mother of the Prime Minister’s son, Wilf, born in April and that she and Boris once had an explosive argument involving red wine and a laptop.

The key to Ms Symonds’s importance is her background, and also perhaps, the speed in which events have shaped her life in just two years. Following a degree in history and theatre studies at the University of Warwick, she rose quickly to become, briefly, head of the Conservative Party press office in 2018 before leaving to work for Oceana, a conservation charity. It’s reported that she became involved romantically with Mr Johnson the same year. She’s also the daughter of Matthew Symonds, the co-founder of The Independent newspaper. Both her paternal grandparents were journalists and her mother was a newspaper lawyer. It’s probably fair to say that until now, most of us have under-estimated her.

You might also argue that outside the ‘Westminster Bubble’ her concerns are of little interest. This, however, would be to deny how far her influence might stretch, especially now Cummings and Cain have departed. It’s safe to assume that she and her friend, Ms Stratton, will have influence over who eventually becomes the Prime Minister’s new chief of staff, a significant and decisive appointment.

And already, we see evidence of a softer and more inclusive approach. The Prime Minister has unveiled his 10-point plan for a £12bn ‘Green Revolution’ which he says will create and support up to 250,000 jobs. Many could be created in our region; offshore wind power, carbon capture and the replacement of fossil fuel boilers and eco-friendly upgrading of homes in Britain, backed by public money.

There will be those who carp and criticise at this sudden spending spree as we continue to battle coronavirus, but if Ms Symonds really can steer her battered and beleaguered fiancé towards calmer and more constructive waters, it can only be good for the country.

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