Boris Johnson has flatly refused to answer questions about an explosive row with his girlfriend as he faced the Tory faithful at the first leadership hustings - with his other half nowhere in sight.
The front runner tried to shrug off the storm caused when it emerged police were called to the south London flat he shares with 31-year-old Carrie Symonds in the early hours of Friday morning.
Speaking at a hustings in Birmingham yesterday, Mr Johnson did not mention the issue in his opening comments, insisting: 'We need to get Brexit done... and I am the right man.'
Broadcaster Iain Dale, hosting the event, said to Mr Johnson: 'They [the public] want to know why the police were called to your house in the early hours of Friday morning. If the police are called to your home it is important. A lot of people in politics do call into question your character.'
Mr Johnson replied: 'I don't think people want to hear about that kind of thing', and refused to answer the question five times in total.
Mr Johnson admitted the public was 'entitled to know about my determination and character'. But he added: 'Let me tell you that when I make a promise in politics about what I want to do I keep that promise.'
Meanwhile Jeremy Hunt did not make any comment on the incident when he was quizzed at the hustings.
The dead bat response from Mr Johnson drew cheers from the audience - who also started booing when Dale tried to push further.
Speaking at a hustings in Birmingham yesterday, Boris Johnson did not mention the issue in his opening comments, insisting: 'We need to get Brexit done... and I am the right man.'
The couple were recorded by neighbours having a 'plate-smashing, screaming row' during which Miss Symonds demanded he leave. Police were called, but no formal action was taken.
In the wake of the controversy Miss Symonds 'liked' a tweet stating 'we must have have entertainment at number 10' - seemingly making light of the extraordinary incident.
But she was nowhere to be seen at the hustings, despite attending his campaign launch earlier this month.
It followed reports Miss Symonds screamed 'get off me' and 'get out of my flat' during a terrifying bust-up with Mr Johnson in the early hours of Friday morning at her flat in Camberwell, south London.
Tories believe the development could be a 'big opportunity' for the other leadership contender Jeremy Hunt to start overhauling Mr Johnson's huge advantage.
Mr Johnson's turbulent personal life is seen as his Achilles' Heel, as he prepares to divorce his second wife and dodges questions about how many children he has.
Mr Hunt delivered a stinging rebuke yesterday by asking whether Mr Johnson could be trusted to deliver an orderly Brexit.
Speaking at a Conservative Party Conference in London this morning, he said: 'If we send the wrong person out as our PM there will be no trust, no negotiation, no deal and if Parliament forces a general election no Brexit.'
Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt are at the first of 16 national hustings in Birmingham this afternoon.
Mr Johnson, 55, and Mr Hunt, 52, are each making a short pitch to the audience, followed by questions from Dale and Tory members.
News of the row at Ms Symonds' flat emerged on Friday night, after a neighbour handed a recording of the altercation to the Guardian newspaper. In the recording Mr Johnson can be heard shouting 'get off my f***ing laptop' before a loud crashing noise is heard.
When Dale asked whether a person's private life has any bearing on someone's ability to discharge the office of prime minister, the crowd booed and Mr Johnson said: 'Don't boo the great man.'
Mr Johnson added: 'I've tried to give my answer pretty exhaustively. I think what people want to know is whether I have the determination and the courage to deliver on the commitments that I'm making and it will need a lot of grit right now.'
Mr Dale put it to him that he was not going to make any comment at all regarding what happened in the early hours of Friday, and Mr Johnson said that was 'pretty obvious'.
Mr Johnson said: 'People are entitled to ask about me and my determination, my character and what I want to do for the country.
'Let me just tell you that when I make a promise in politics, about what I'm going to do, I keep that promise and I deliver.'
But Mr Dale told Mr Johnson he was 'completely avoiding' the question.
Next-door neighbour, 32-year-old nursery worker Fatimah, was among those who heard the loud dispute. She said: 'There was a lot of shouting, a lady was screaming and I could hear glasses or plates being thrown quite a few times.
'The man was shouting back. I could hear it through my walls. I was watching TV and muted it because I was so worried. It lasted for about ten minutes. I have never heard anything like that before.
'You could hear glass being smashed and other things. It was obvious the lady was angry, she was screaming hysterically. My walls were shaking from all the noise and things that were being thrown around.'
And Earl McDermott, who lives nearby, told MailOnline: 'It was a proper tear up. Glasses being smashed, screaming and a lot of arguing. I was walking past Johnson's house and you could hear it coming from the top floor. I thought someone was being murdered.'
In the recording of their argument, Miss Symonds, who Mr Johnson is said to be hoping to marry after he left his second wife, was heard complaining that he had spilled red wine on her sofa. She then said: 'You just don't care for anything because you're spoilt. You have no care for money or anything.'
Last night, MPs said Mr Johnson may seek an injunction to suppress any attempt to release the recording.
The neighbour who took the recording, told the Guardian: 'There was a smashing sound of what sounded like plates. There was a couple of very loud screams that I'm certain were Carrie and she was shouting to ''get out'' a lot.
'She was saying, ''get out of my flat'' and he was saying no. And then there was silence after the screaming. My partner, who was in bed half asleep, had heard a loud bang and the house shook.
'I [was] hoping that someone would answer the door and say ''We're okay''. I knocked three times and no one came to the door.' That neighbour called the police.
Scotland Yard initially told the Guardian that they had no record of the incident but after being given the case number, reference number and identification markings of the cars called out, confirmed they were called to Miss Symonds' flat at 24 minutes past midnight and spoke to all the occupants of the address, 'who were safe and well'.
The row between Miss Symonds and Mr Johnson comes after the ex-Foreign secretary won the latest round of voting for a place in Downing Street with 160 votes, more than half of all Conservative MPs.
Mr Johnson showed no signs of the late-night row as he was spotted smiling at a Conservative summer party just an hour after the news broke.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson declined to comment on the incident.
It came as:
- Several neighbours described the altercation as 'the worst they've ever heard'
- One MP warned it could seriously damage Mr Johnson's Tory leadership campaign
- Another said that the clash between Miss Symonds and Mr Johnson was their 'worst nightmare'
- Security Minister Ben Wallace deleted a tweet defending Mr Johnson over the dramatic bust-up
- Mr Johnson appeared not to have told his campaign team about the police's visit to the flat he shares with Miss Symonds
Security Minister Ben Wallace, a close ally of Mr Johnson, came out in his defence before deleting the tweet, which read: 'What a non story, ''couple have a row''. Lefty neighbours give recording to Guardian. Newspaper reaches new low is a better news story.'
Reports suggest that Mr Johnson hadn't made his campaign team aware of the police's visit last night.
In the wake of the row, Tory former attorney general Dominic Grieve said character is relevant in the Conservative leadership race adding that it matters in both public and private life.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think the issue of any candidate's character, standing for the leadership of a party, and aiming to be a Prime Minister is going to be relevant.
'And has to be relevant because they are going to be in a position of responsibility where they have to make very important decisions.'
He added: 'I think one has got to be a bit careful about what aspects of character really matter.
'But, clearly, things like reliability and honesty are very important things. And, I think they matter in one's private and personal life, and also they matter in one's public life.'
Residents have been speaking out following the altercation at around 12.24am on Friday morning.
Nursery worker Fatimah, who described 'glass being smashed' in the property, said: 'I have a four year old son and I was worried the noise would wake him up.
'He had a much calmer voice and he was just telling her to calm down, but she was still chucking things about.'
She added: 'I didn't call the police because the police arrived like a few minutes after. I saw a police van and a police car turn up. I knew they would probably deal with the situation.
'It went on for just over ten minutes. His voice was quite quiet but her voice was more loud. I couldn't make out what she was saying because she was just very, very angry.'
She said she was unsure who called police.
Her husband, Imran, 33, said his wife had been frightened by the commotion.
Speaking outside the home this morning, he said: 'I wasn't at home, but my missus heard stuff.
'She said she heard lots of shouting and screaming and some things being smashed or broken.'
Asked how he felt about the incident, he said: 'It's no big deal for me - we're all human'.
Posters have been stuck up on fences near Ms Symonds' flat stating: 'we'd rather endure him as our neighbour than our Prime Minister.'
Kirstie Lamont, who said the posters will be put up during a dog show in the area tomorrow (SUN), said: 'He's our neighbour - we are so Green or Labour here. This is not our politics at all.
'We'd rather endure him as our neighbour than our Prime Minister.'
On the police incident, she said: 'I haven't looked into it too much, but the 'get off me' sounds really bad.'
Ms Lamont denied the posters were 'un-neighbourly' and fumbled when it was put to her that Carrie might not feel welcome in the area anymore.
Raymond Campbell, aged 48 who lives four doors down told MailOnline: 'I saw the police arrive just after midnight. I had just got in
'Everybody knows Boris Johnson lives here. We see him cycling around. The police went into his house and then a short while later a police van also arrived. They were in there for about 10 to 15 minutes.
'I didn't know what had happened but I asked some neighbours in the morning. They said there'd been a domestic between Johnson and his partner.'
One neighbour told the Telegraph: 'I heard the row, it was pretty loud. I was quite worried to be honest, it was bad.
'I heard a lot of smashing - it sounded like plates or glasses - and I could hear her shouting. It was definitely her, I didn't hear him. There was a lot of shouting and swearing. It didn't last that long, maybe five minutes. It was unusual because it's very quiet around here. We don't usually here things like this.'
Two police cars and a van arrived within minutes, shortly after midnight, but left after receiving reassurances from both the individuals in the flat that they were 'safe and well'.
Neighbours told the Times they had not even realised that Mr Johnson had been living in the apartment until earlier this week.
One said: 'Boris has been visiting for six to nine months. I think he lives there now because of the frequency we see him. He leaves the house about 8am and he gets picked up by his minders.'
Mr Johnson was caught out as the words used by Ms Symonds - 'get off me' and 'get out of my flat' - were picked up on a neighbour's phone.
Miss Symond's flat occupies the first floor of a converted semi-detached Georgian villa.
It is not clear whether the neighbour who recorded the row lives in the same building, either above or below, or on the first floor of the adjoining house.
A senior MP told Mail Online: 'Boris is clearly the favourite in this leadership race but four weeks is a very long time in politics.
'He's got 16 hustings, all of which are going to be televised… a lot can change.
'I think a lot of Conservative members are waiting to see the outcome of the debates and things like that.
'This might well play into their concerns about him. You are talking about Conservative Party activists… there are lots of different types of people.
'There is a lot of female membership. I'm not sure this kind of thing goes down well.'
Another MP said: 'You just couldn't make it up. If the bulk of your members are over 60, most of them have got grandchildren, most of them have settled down, most of them are stable… the activists are going to turn around and say do we really want this guy to be PM? Anybody normal would think that.
'This guy is going to be PM and all this stuff is going on in his private life - how chaotic is he? If he can't hold it together at his age, what the hell is going on?
'This will go on and on. It will damage him.'
One Tory MP told the Sun: 'What the hell is he thinking? This is our worst nightmare.'
Others were more dismissive of the claims, with one member of Mr Johnson's team saying: 'It's just an argument with his girlfriend isn't it?
'I'm sure it can all be explained and that's what I imagine Carrie will do tomorrow.'
A source for Mr Johnson's opponent, Jeremy Hunt, said: 'If this is as bad as it first looks, this could be the shortest Tory leadership contest ever.'
But Richard Barnes, who was deputy mayor of London under Mr Johnson, told Newsnight: 'I question the motives of the neighbours who stood there with a microphone pressed against the wall recording somebody's row… so concerned were they, they went to The Guardian.'
The row came just hours after Mr Johnson cemented his position as the runaway favourite to succeed Theresa May as prime minister.
In the final ballot of Tory MPs he received 160 votes, equal to more than half the total.
His lead was so great that senior Tories believe he was able to 'lend' votes to Jeremy Hunt in order to knock out his bitter rival Michael Gove.
On Saturday, he will take part in the first of 16 televised hustings for Tory members in Birmingham.
Mr Johnson is believed to have attended a party fundraising event in Reading on Thursday evening before returning to the flat he has shared with Miss Symonds since leaving his second wife Marina last year.
It now risks adding to concerns among some senior Tories about Mr Johnson's suitability for the highest office.
It could also raise doubts in the minds of the party's members, who are older and more socially conservative than the public at large.
Supporters believe that controversy about previous indiscretions, including a string of mistresses, a love child and past dabbling with drugs are 'priced in' by those who believe he is the only candidate who can deliver Brexit and restore the party's fortunes.
But Mr Hunt has made it clear that he aims to make the remaining contest a test of 'character'.
Asked whether he could defy the odds and win yesterday, Mr Hunt replied 'absolutely', adding that the party's 160,000 members were looking for 'someone they trust to be prime minster'.
In a statement, Scotland Yard confirmed they were called to Miss Symonds's flat at 24 minutes past midnight. It went on: 'The caller was concerned for the welfare of a female neighbour. Police attended and spoke to all occupants of the address, who were all safe and well.
'There were no offences or concerns apparent to the officers and there was no cause for police action.'
Mr Johnson has said little in public about his relationship with Miss Symonds, a former head of communications for the Conservative Party.
But the couple have been a little more open in recent months. Earlier this month she attended his leadership launch, prompting speculation she hopes to move into Number 10 if he succeeds in his bid for power.
He is also said to be hoping to marry Miss Symonds once his divorce to Miss Wheeler, with whom he has four children, has been finalised. The break-up is said to have severely strained relations between Mr Johnson and his children.
Miss Symonds, a glamourous PR executive who friends describe as brilliant and ambitious, is credited with transforming Mr Johnson's public image.
Under her direction, his famous blond mane has been cropped, he has lost weight and his trademark dishevelled appearance has been replaced by a sharp-suited image.
The incident looks certain to upset Mr Johnson's carefully choreographed procession into Number 10.
With polls showing he enjoys a commanding lead, the MP has fought shy of media interviews and public appearances, fearing that his campaign could be derailed by a gaffe.
One ally described it as the 'Ming vase strategy', likened his position to that of Tony Blair ahead of the 1997 landslide election, which he described as being like 'carry a Ming vase across a polished marble floor'.
The incident plays into concerns among MPs that Mr Johnson's volatile personal life could be a liability, and could be raised in a frantic slew of hustings events the candidates are about to embark on.
Mr Johnson announced he was splitting from second wife Marina Wheeler just before his relationship with Ms Symonds – former media chief at the Conservative Party – became public.
If he succeeds Theresa May, Mr Johnson is likely to earn the dubious record of being the first PM in modern times to divorce while in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson is the hot favourite to win the Tory leadership contest and become the next Prime Minister.
The frontrunner said it was him and not his challenger Jeremy Hunt who could reverse the fortunes of the Conservative Party after it suffered a bruising set of results in the local and European elections earlier this year.
He made the comment as he and Mr Hunt formally kicked off their battle as they each faced their first grilling by Tory members.
The frontrunner and the self-described 'underdog' sought to win over Conservative local authority bosses and councillors on Friday in what was the first of more than a dozen events in front of the party grassroots which the pair will take part in over the next month.
But it is Mr Johnson who is thought to have made the biggest impression as he quoted the British Conservative wartime prime minister who he has written books about.
'I've never known a time where we got nine per cent in a national election,' he reportedly said, according to The Sun, as he referred to the Tories' recent electoral struggles.
'My message to you is: the hour is darkest before the dawn. We can turn this thing around.'
The support of Tory local government figures will be critical to both men's hopes of victory and whoever does become PM will be reliant on them to motivate activists and knock on doors.
Mr Hunt's and Mr Johnson's appearance in front of the Local Government Association Conservative Group came after it was claimed that Mr Johnson's team had warned ministers that failing to publicly back him would destroy their careers.
The battle to become Prime Minister will see the final two face a gruelling series of 16 hustings across the UK, starting in Birmingham on Saturday, and continuing up and down the country over the next month.
The final outcome of the leadership contest will not be known until the week beginning July 22, with the two remaining candidates taking part in a series of hustings in front of Tory members around the country before the votes are counted.
Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt will also take part in a head-to-head debate on ITV on July 9.
The broadcaster has promised to 'get answers to the questions that matter' in its coverage of the two hopefuls to be the next prime minister.
ITV made the announcement following news that Michael Gove had been knocked out of the leadership race leaving Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt competing for votes from the Tory membership.
It comes after the BBC programme featuring the five would-be PMs has been widely condemned after it emerged one of the 'ordinary voters' posting questions was an imam who had previously posted vile tweets about Israel.
Two divorces, a lovechild and a mistress scorned: Boris Johnson's complicated romantic history
BY SAM GREENHILL
Womanising Boris Johnson has a string of failed relationships to his name.
The philandering MP embarked on at least five extra-marital flings and got at least two of his mistresses pregnant.
When his affair with Carrie Symonds came to light last September, he and his long-suffering wife Marina Wheeler filed for divorce. Their daughter Lara Johnson, 26, who is only five years younger than Miss Symonds, reportedly branded her father a 'selfish b******'.
Mr Johnson – who once dismissed reports of his cheating as 'an inverted pyramid of piffle' – married Oxford University sweetheart Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1987, but they divorced in 1993 after he cheated on her with Marina.
In 2004, his four-year affair with journalist and society author Petronella Wyatt, the daughter of Labour grandee Lord Wyatt, became public.
She later told how she had an abortion and suffered a miscarriage.
Mr Johnson was sacked from his role as shadow arts minister by then-Tory leader Michael Howard for lying about the relationship. Mr Howard's spokesman said at the time the issue was one of 'personal morality'.
Two years later, the News of the World reported an affair with journalist Anna Fazackerley, saying Mr Johnson had been seen leaving her London flat.
At the time Miss Wheeler threw her husband out of their home, but the couple later patched things up.
The following year he fathered a child with art consultant Helen Macintyre.
It is understood Miss Wheeler again kicked him out of the family home.
In 2016, Miss Wyatt said: 'He is inordinately proud of his Turkish ancestry and his views on matters such as monogamy are decidedly Eastern. 'I find it genuinely unreasonable that men should be confined to one woman,' he has grumbled to me, and cannot understand the media's reaction to his personal affairs.'
City lawyer Miss Wheeler, 54, a Cambridge-educated QC and the daughter of veteran BBC correspondent Sir Charles Wheeler, put up with her husband's infidelity for years.
But last September was the final straw for the mother of the MP's four older children – Lara, Milo Arthur, 23, Cassia Peaches, 21, and Theodore Apollo, 19.
Since then, Miss Symonds and her boyfriend have kept a low profile, and been photographed together on only a handful of occasions.
Mr Johnson owns a home in Oxfordshire but has moved into the flat in south London which Miss Symonds bought last year for a little over £650,000 with the help of a mortgage.
At New Year they jointly hosted a discreet party there for close friends, at which they were reported to appear 'very much in love'.
Miss Symonds is nicknamed 'Flotus', short for 'First Lady of the United States', the acronym used for the US President's wife. Mr Johnson has reportedly been trying to speed up his divorce so he can move her into Downing Street if he wins the leadership contest.
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