Dominic Cummings’ wife denies being second woman allegedly groped by Boris Johnson
2 min read
Dominic Cummings’ wife has issued a statement denying that she was the second woman allegedly groped by Boris Johnson during a lunch in the late 90s.
It comes a day after journalist Charlotte Edwardes wrote in the Sunday Times that the Prime Minister squeezed her thigh, and that of another woman, while working at the Spectator in 1999.
Mr Johnson, the former editor of the magazine, denied the claims during an interview at the Conservative Party conference, hours after Downing Street had dismissed the allegation as “untrue”.
In response to the comment from Number 10, Ms Edwardes tweeted: “If the prime minister doesn't recollect the incident then clearly I have a better memory than he does.”
Spectator commissioning editor Mary Wakefield, who is married to Mr Johnson’s chief of staff, Mr Cummings, moved to quash rumours that she could have been the other woman mentioned.
In a statement, she said: "I am not the woman referred to in Charlotte Edwardes’s column.
“Boris was a good boss and nothing like this ever happened to me. Nor has Charlotte, who I like and admire, ever discussed the incident with me.”
Writing in the Sunday Times, Ms Edwardes said: "More wine is poured; more wine is drunk. Under the table I feel Johnson's hand on my thigh. He gives it a squeeze."
"His hand is high up my leg and he has enough inner flesh beneath his fingers to make me sit suddenly upright."
Ms Edwardes added that another woman at the lunch later told her he had done the same to her.
When confronted with the allegations Mr Johnson also denied they had “overshadowed” the party’s set piece event.
"Not at all. I think what the public wants to hear is what we are doing to bring the country together and get on with improving their lives,” he said.
When asked if Ms Edwardes had made it up, the PM responded: "I'm just saying what I've said.”
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