Boris ‘Alexander the Great’ Johnson & Jennifer Arcuri report points to a wider culture of Tory misconduct
A report from the Independent Office of Police Conduct into whether Boris Johnson’s relationship with Jennifer Arcuri amounted to Misconduct in Public Office-a potential criminal offence- has concluded that it did not.
In an interview with the Sunday Mirror (28th March) Arcuri has confirmed they had a four year affair. Johnson’s partners and personal life are widely discussed but in my view a matter for him, although one might comment they wouldn’t have fitted officially with the Victorian family values of his hero Margaret Thatcher.
Arcuri notes that her private name for Johnson was ‘Alexander the Great’. Alexander is Johnson’s actual first name,
What the report does do, in some detail, is point to a potential conflict of interest between Johnson’s role as London Mayor and his friendship with Arcuri and the fact that he took no action on this.
Perhaps particularly interesting are paragraphs 70-73 of the report
Ms Arcuri attending a New York Trade Mission in February 2015 which she was not entitled to attend. The fact that she did actually attend it in a rather ill-defined capacity is thought to be because officials were aware of her relationship with the Mayor.
There is no suggestion that Johnson authorised Ms Arcuri’s attendance and its possible that he may not have known about it specifically. What also seems likely however is that he knew in a general way that Ms Arcuri might trade off others knowledge of a supposed relationship. On this the report criticises his ‘inaction’ in dealing with any suspicion of a conflict of interest or impropriety. In short Johnson did know that problems might arise and questions get asked (as in fact did happen) but just couldn’t be bothered to do anything about it.
It is reported that the Greater London Authority inquiry into these matters is still live. Johnson said on Monday 29th March that he abided by the Nolan principles of conduct in public life.
Coming on top of media reports about David Cameron’s involvement with the bankrupt bank Greensill there seems to be a pattern of Tory sinecures and favours echoing not a modern democracy but the Old Corruption of the period before the 1832 Reform Act.
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