Carrie Symonds Wiki, Age, Boyfriend, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

Carrie Symonds is a British political activist and conservationist. She is the wife of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson.

Wiki/Biography

Carrie Johnson ^[1]The Guardian (nee Symonds) was born Thursday, 17 March 1988 (age 33 years; as of 2021), in London, England. Her zodiac sign is Pisces. She was brought up by her mother in East Sheen, London. From 1999 to 2006, she studied at Godolphin and Latymer School, London. In 2009, she attained a Bachelor’s (Hons.) degree in History of Arts and Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick, Coventry, England. ^[2]LinkedIn – Carrie Symonds

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 7″

Eye Colour: Green

Hair Colour: Blonde

Family & Ethnicity

Parents & Siblings

She was born to Matthew Symonds, co-founder of The Independent, and Josephine Mcaffee (née Lawrence), a former lawyer working for The Independent.

Carrie’s parents were lovers, even when they were married to different people. She has two half-siblings; from her father’s marriage, he has a son and a daughter.

Relationships, Husband & Children

She was earlier in a relationship with British political journalist Harry Cole.

In 2018, she began dating Boris Johnson, the then Foreign Secretary, while Boris was still married to his second wife, Marina Wheeler. In July 2019, when Boris became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the couple moved to 10 Downing Street.

On 29 February 2020, Carrie and Boris announced that they were engaged in late 2019 and expecting a baby in mid-2019. On 29 April 2020 at University College Hospital in London, she gave birth to her and Boris’ son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson.

On 29 May 2021, she and Boris married in a secret ceremony at Westminster Cathedral attended by thirty guests.

In December 2021, she gave birth to a baby girl, making Boris Johnson the father of her second child after Wilfred. ^[3]BBC

Other Relatives

Her paternal grandfather, John Beavan, was a British journalist who worked for the newspapers such as The Guardian and Daily Herald. Her maternal grandmother, Anne Symonds, was an English broadcaster on culture and politics for the BBC World Service. Her paternal step-grandfather, Richard Symonds, was an English academic and civil servant. She is the daughter-in-law of Stanley Johnson (British Author and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wight and Hampshire East) and Charlotte Johnson Wahl (a British artist).

She is sister-in-law of Rachel Johnson (a British journalist, television presenter, and author), Jo Johnson (A British politician), and Julia Johnson (an English author and singer-songwriter).

She is also sister-in-law to Amelia Gentleman, a British Journalist and the wife of Jo Johnson.

Career

From August 2007 to October 2008, she interned at Fishburn Hedges, Mulberry Marketing Communications, Icas Limited (Publicasity), and Doner Cardwell Hawkins. In July-October 2009, she worked as an account executive at Mulberry Marketing Communications. In October 2009-September 2010, she worked as a Public Affairs Executive trainee at Lansons Communications LLP, where her clients were JPMorgan Chase, PayPal, Citibank, Friends Provident, and Martin Currie Limited.

Conservative Party (UK)

In 2009, Carrie joined the Conservative Party (UK) as a press officer. In the 2010 London Conservative Party mayoral election, she campaigned for Boris Johnson. From September 2010 to February 2011, she worked as Campaign and Marketing Director for Zac Goldsmith of Richmond Park Conservative Association. From December 2011 to May 2012, she worked as a Political Press Officer for Back Boris 2012 Campaign. In January 2011, she became Political Press Advisor for the Conservative Party at Conservative Campaign Headquarters. In June 2013, she was made the Head of Broadcast of the Conservative Party, the position she left in 2015. As a media supervisor, she worked for Conservative Party MPs Sajid Javid (July 2016-May 2017) and John Whittingdale (May 2015- July 2016). In the 2017 General Elections, she worked as a campaign supervisor for Zac Goldsmith. In June 2017, she was made the Director of Communications of the Conservative Party. She left the position later in 2018.

Conservationism

She then began working as a public relations officer at Oceana, a nonprofit ocean conservation organization. She is also a patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation. Apart from that, she has campaigned actively against whaling in Japan and trophy hunting.

In April 2020, she called out for an end to wet markets. She even convinced UK supermarkets to stop selling coconut products made using monkey ‘slave labour’ in Thailand. She has worked hard for years to highlight the threat of plastic pollution for various marine life.

Controversies

• In 2007, aged 19, she was going home from a King’s Road nightclub in a taxi, which was driven by the taxi driver John Worboys, convicted in the serial rape cases in 2009. According to Carrie, John offered her champagne, which was spiked, but she refused to drink it. John then offered her Vodka, which she drank a little. She returned home vomiting and laughing before she passed out and woke up at 3 pm the next day. In 2009, she testified against John at his trial, along with thirteen other women. She was the youngest victim of John Worboys and waived her anonymity. Talking about it in an interview, she said,
  

  A sad, wicked man who is a danger to society. I feel so angry that he pleaded not guilty and made us go through the pain of giving evidence in court.”

  When he was released early in 2018, she campaigned against him, fundraising a successful judicial review of the decision. Her efforts were successful as John was put to prison again. ^[4]Standard

• In 2018, Carrie quit her job as the Director of Communications of the Conservative Party. Reportedly, she was asked to leave by party chiefs who claimed that she showed poor performance. There were also rumors about her mishandling the expenses. However, these rumors were shut down by the party workers. ^[5]Mirror

• In June 2019, Carrie and Boris Johnson engaged in an ugly verbal fight, which was taped by one of their neighbors at Carrie’s South London flat. Concerning women’s safety, the neighbors called the police at the spot. The police officers said that there were no offenses that needed police action. The recording however made headlines, which featured Carrie and Boris screaming, shouting, and banging things. This also put questions on their strained relationship. The couple dismissed it as a romantic tiff. ^[6]The Straits Times

• In August 2019, Carrie applied for a visa for few days to go to the United States due to work purposes, but US authorities blocked her request, citing her five-day visit to Somaliland, Horn of Africa. ^[7]news.com.au
  

  Carrie Symonds during her trip to Somaliland

• In January 2020, concerns were raised over her influence on the prime minister when she received briefs from badgers’ trust weeks before the government pulled the cull of badgers in Derbyshire. The National Farmers’ Union (NFU), representing farmers, asserted that because of her the government ignored scientific advice to retain the cull. According to The Guardian, a judicial review was granted to examine how the decision was reached. ^[8]The Guardian

Favorite Things

• Food: Oysters

• TV Series: Fleabag (2016)

• Band: ABBA

Facts/Trivia

• She likes bird watching and became interested in it after she visited a puffin colony at Bempton in East Yorkshire. She also likes watching films and television and dancing in her spare time.

• She likes going out with her friends drinking and likes Negroni and Fizz cocktails. ^[9]Standard

• Initially, she wanted to become an actress and auditioned for a part in the 2007 romantic war drama film Atonement. After she failed it, she realized she wasn’t made for acting and came in communications instead.

• After Boris Johnson became the Prime Minister of the UK, he moved to 10 Downing Street with Carrie, they became the first unmarried couple to live in Prime Minister’s official residence. She earned the title of ‘First Girlfriend’ after that. ^[10]The Irish Times

• Carrie practices Catholicism, and her son, Wilfred, was baptized in the Catholic Church. ^[11]The Irish Times

• As of 2021, Carrie and Boris are residing above 11 Downing Street, City of Westminster, London. ^[12]The Guardian

• As the Director of Communications for the Conservative Party, she earned £80,000 a year. After she left the job, she received a £20,000 pay-off. ^[13]Mirror

• She is an avid animal lover. In South Wales, Carrie and Boris adopted a fifteen-week-old Jack Russell-cross puppy from an animal rescue charity. The puppy was abandoned by puppy farmers and rescued by Friends of Animals Wales in Rhondda. Later, Carrie and Boris adopted the puppy and named him Dilyn.
  

  Carrie Symonds with her pet, Dilyn

• She follows a vegan diet and was named PETA’s ‘Person of the Year’ in 2020. ^[14]Vegan Food & Living According to PETA,
  

  Carrie Symonds is a fearless force for good when it comes to making the world a kinder place for animals. PETA is delighted to honour her for using her platform to encourage people to spare a thought for our fellow animals whom we share this planet with.”