SNP call for investigation into Carrie Johnson job claim

The SNP has called for an investigation into a report that claimed the Prime Minister tried to hire his then-partner Carrie Symonds as his chief of staff in the Foreign Office while working as Foreign Secretary.

The story in question, written by veteran political reporter Simon Walters, was pulled by The Times after members of the Prime Minister's team intervened.

It had appeared in the papers’ early print editions but was removed from later copies, as well as from online.

Number 10 and Carrie Johnson strongly deny the allegations.

But SNP MP Brendan O’Hara has now written to Simon Case, head of the civil service, to “clarify” whether the story was “true or not”.

He wrote: “I am sure you will agree that transparency and accountability are fundamental in ensuring public trust in government, and any question surrounding whether or not someone holding one of the most senior offices of state attempted to employ his or her partner in such a senior role is deserving of an answer.”