BORIS Johnson's allies have said claims that his fiancee Carrie Symonds is playing a key role in the Government are "incorrect". 

It comes after a Tory think tank yesterday called for an independent probe into Ms Symond's role within No.10 following the departure of several advisors.

The latest person to leave Downing Street was Oliver Lewis, who had been appointed as the head of the Union unit just weeks earlier.

He said his role was being made untenable, and it is reported that he had been accused of briefing against minister Michael Gove by Ms Symonds, which he denied he had done. 

Two allies of Ms Symonds, Baroness Finn and Henry Newman, were appointed as key advisers in No 10 recently, following the departure of former Vote Leave figures Dominic Cummings Lee Cain and Mr Lewis.

Today the Prime Minister’s press secretary Allegra Stratton dismissed the calls for an inquiry by the Bow Group, saying there would be no response to the think tank’s call.

The Bow Group said an inquiry should look at Ms Symonds’ “possible influence” in Government hiring and appointments.

Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the Bow Group, said Ms Symonds “currently holds no official role in the Conservative Party or the Government, yet consistent reports in the press suggest that Ms Symonds is taking a central role in running the country, without any authority or accountability to do so”.

But Ms Stratton said “it’s incorrect” to say Ms Symonds has a central role in Government.

She began a new job working for wildlife charity The Aspinall Foundation at the end of January.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister was focused on the response to coronavirus, Ms Stratton said.

Conservative MP Laura Trott questioned whether some of the hostile briefing against Ms Symonds could be because she is a woman.

The Sevenoaks MP, who worked in the No 10 Policy Unit during David Cameron’s premiership, told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour: “I used to work with Carrie, she’s an incredibly talented and able person and I think there should be some consideration given… About whether some of these things would be said about a man.

“It’s very distasteful and I think it’s incredibly unnecessary.”

Asked whether Mr Johnson felt there was an element of sexism in the allegations against his fiancee, Ms Stratton said: “That’s something I have heard him say.”