Under new management: is Carrie Symonds the real power at No 10?

It's no surprise Boris Johnson's fiancee has his ear. But the former spin doctor may be turning into another unelected decision-maker

There could only be one winner. Shimmying across her office rooftop while miming valiantly to a Taylor Swift song, the new Tory MP Dehenna Davison beat a strong performance from veteran London politician Andrew Boff (resplendent in full drag and feather boa) to win the LGBT+ Conservative group's virtual lip sync battle last month.

And laughing along over Zoom from her living room, her rescue dog Dilyn barking in the background, was Carrie Symonds. The prime minister's 32-year-old fiancee not only judged the virtual fundraiser in aid of LGBT+ candidates but persuaded her partner to join her briefly on camera. Gone, apparently, was the Boris Johnson who wrote of tank-topped bumboys" in a 1998 newspaper column. The one who, as London's mayor, once wore a pink Stetson for Pride is back.