Boris Johnson faces a new scandal, and 'people see blood in the water'

Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, in 2013. Johnson is facing accusations of mixing friendship with a young woman and misspent public money. Photo / Andrew Testa, The New York Times

On Prime Minister Boris Johnson's turbulent path to Downing Street, serial philandering and ethical sloppiness became part of his shtick, blots on a career so chaotic and beguiling that the British public always seemed to forgive the mistakes.

But Johnson is now facing a potentially more serious accusation of mixing friendship with a young woman and misspent public money, one that could test voters' patience in a looming general election.

In an article published this weekend, The Sunday Times of London reported that, when Johnson was mayor of London, his office directed tens of thousands of pounds in government money to a fledgling entrepreneur and close friend whose apartment he often visited during working hours.

The entrepreneur, Jennifer Arcuri, an American and a former model, was 27 when she first crossed paths with Johnson in 2012. In the ensuing years, she was given coveted spots on trade missions with the mayor to Tel Aviv, New York, Singapore and Malaysia. In some instances, Johnson's office intervened to add her to the roster even though she did not meet the criteria for trade delegates, The Sunday Times reported.

Even with lawmakers consumed by the fight over Brexit, the scandal gathered steam Monday.

On a plane to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Johnson repeatedly refused to answer reporters' questions about the article, including whether he was in a sexual relationship with Arcuri at the time.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, accused the prime minister of an "alleged abuse of power."

And the British Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which this year awarded Arcuri's company a grant of 100,000 pounds (about $196,000) intended for British firms, said it was investigating the grant after The Sunday Times reported that Arcuri had vacated the company's registered address in England and now lives in California.

Johnson has previously weathered one scandal after another, building a buffer from his aura of chronic absent-mindedness and posh eccentricity. But he has spent considerable political capital in trying to enforce an October 31 deadline for Brexit and in the process provoked Parliament and the courts to try to check his power grab.

Analysts said that Johnson was left vulnerable for the first time in his two-decade political career.

"This goes into a new category — it's no longer just the tabloid sex scandal thing," said Sonia Purnell, author of Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition. "Every single ingredient there is alarming. And the fact that he will not answer any questions — or indeed deny any of those allegations — I think that is why some people see blood in the water."

The scandal came in the midst of a tense week for the prime minister. He is trying to secure a new Brexit deal with European leaders. An early election is looming. And the Supreme Court is set to rule Tuesday on whether Johnson's decision to suspend, or prorogue, Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis was legal.

That shutdown was originally intended to keep lawmakers from interfering with his plans to yank Britain out of the European Union by October 31, with or without a deal governing future relations. But it now serves a second purpose in shielding the prime minister from a very public interrogation over the government grants.

"The fact he's prorogued Parliament means no one can call him to account," Purnell said.

As mayor, Johnson was barred from giving friends improper benefits. He was also bound to declare any private entanglements that could have created conflicts of interest.

Hacker House, a cybersecurity company set up by Arcuri, did not to respond to a message Monday seeking comment. She told The Sunday Times that the grants "were purely in respect of my role as a legitimate businesswoman."

The Sunday Times reported that Arcuri arrived in London for business school after a short career in modelling and films. Her first venture — a series of networking events for entrepreneurs and policymakers in East London — was given a lift by Johnson, who appeared at four of her events, The Sunday Times reported.

Soon a promotional agency overseen by the mayor began giving the company money. Johnson also paid regular visits to Arcuri's East London apartment, which was outfitted with a dancing pole, sometimes during afternoon work breaks. The apartment building owner told The Sunday Times that Arcuri described Johnson as "one of her best friends."

And after Arcuri was turned down for a spot on a mayoral trade mission to Tel Aviv, Johnson's office asked for her to be added, even though her professional experience had little to do with the trip.

Johnson, who was mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, has occasionally mixed his elected positions with his dalliances before, as when he gave Helen Macintyre, an art adviser, an unpaid job as a fundraiser for a public sculpture project. It was later revealed that Macintyre and Johnson had a child together.

Earlier in his career, Johnson was fired from the Conservative Party's leadership team after falsely denying reports of an extramarital affair.

But these incidents only served to bolster Johnson's image as a blustering and buffoonish, but always entertaining, lawmaker.

"He's got some sort of hold on the British psyche," Purnell said. "He's created this persona: The toff who quotes Latin. And no one really asks him what he's doing, whether it's a good idea. That's what got him this far."

The Labour Party was already raising an alarm Monday about parts of the British news media, particularly the British Broadcasting Corp., giving Johnson a pass, though the BBC denied the allegation.

"This is how the establishment works," Corbyn said in a Twitter clip. "They close ranks."

Written by: Benjamin Mueller

Photographs by: Andrew Testa

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