'Carrie clique' member unfairly blamed for Boris Johnson's woes

Key member of ‘Carrie clique’ Henry Newman has been unfairly blamed for Boris Johnson’s woes, friends insist

• Henry Newman was last weekend moved from No 10 to return to work for former boss Michael Gove
• Followed pressure from Tory MPs to disband the clique which has allegedly formed in No 10 around Carrie Johnson
• Came hours after Daily Mail revealed details of new biography portraying PM as weak 
• Biography claims he is so ‘mesmerised’ by his wife he allows her to influence policies and appointments  

A key member of the so-called Carrie clique has been unfairly blamed for the Government’s woes, friends claimed last night.

Henry Newman, a long-standing friend of the Prime Minister’s wife, Carrie, was last weekend moved from No 10 to return to work for his former boss Michael Gove in the Levelling Up department.

This followed pressure from Conservative MPs to disband the clique which has allegedly formed in No 10 around Mrs Johnson. 

It came hours after The Daily Mail had revealed the first details of a bombshell new biography portraying Mr Johnson as a weak Prime Minister who is so ‘mesmerised’ by his 33-year-old wife that he allows her to influence policies and appointments.

 Henry Newman (pictured) , a long-standing friend of the Prime Minister’s wife, Carrie, was last weekend moved from No 10 to return to work for his former boss Michael Gove in the Levelling Up department

The book, which is being serialised in today’s Mail on Sunday, has fanned concerns within the party about the power wielded by Mrs Johnson and the No 10 advisers to whom she is close.

But last night a friend of Mr Newman leapt to his defence, saying that he had been unfairly criticised for losing the support of Red Wall MPs by advancing unpopular policies such as green levies and transgender rights.

The friend said: ‘The stuff Henry gets blamed for is crackers … Now he’s being told he’s bad for the Red Wall. Honestly it’s mad and totally unfair.’

The book, which is being serialised in today’s Mail on Sunday, has fanned concerns within the party about the power wielded by Carrie Johnson (pictured) and the No 10 advisers to whom she is close

Mail on Sunday columnist Dan Hodges reports today that ‘Newman’s move – and the infighting attending it – has highlighted a conflict at the heart of Johnson’s Government. 

‘Should it pursue the liberal, One Nation agenda favoured by his influential wife and her allies? Or should it return to the true-blue Tory messages that saw Boris break the Brexit logjam and deliver Election triumph?’

Hodges reports that Mrs Johnson would affectionately refer to the team of young, diverse advisers inside No 10 as ‘The Gays’. One Downing Street staffer said. ‘She’d say: ‘I’m with The Gays up in the flat. Can you come up?’ ‘

Last night, a source close to Mrs Johnson said it was ‘nonsense’ that she ever referred to the clique as ‘the gays’.

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