Comment: Carrie Johnson and our unease about the 鈥榩olitical spouse' Published on: 14 February 2022 Writing for The Conversation, Orly Siow discusses the women who have faced questions about their role and influence as a female political spouse. , In what have been a turbulent few weeks for Boris Johnson, the imminent release of Lord Ashcroft鈥檚 biography of the prime minister鈥檚 wife is adding to his woes. published from the book 鈥淔irst Lady: Intrigue at the Court of Carrie and Boris Johnson鈥� accuse the prime minister鈥檚 wife of being the 鈥渢he No 1 problem鈥� in Johnson鈥檚 administration. The prime minister鈥檚 wife is accused of 鈥渕uscling in鈥� 鈥� to the point of literally whispering prompts in Johnson鈥檚 ear on occasion. An example includes accusations she was involved in a out of Afghanistan while stretched government officials were trying to work out how to save during the UK鈥檚 withdrawal. It is also fairly evident from the evidence produced by senior civil servant Sue Gray that Carrie Johnson has some questions to answer in relation to gatherings held in Downing Street, where she lives, during pandemic lockdowns. But regardless of the scale of Carrie Johnson鈥檚 potential wrongdoings, describing the PM鈥檚 wife as 鈥渢he No 1 problem鈥� in his administration also runs the risk of (conveniently) letting the prime minister himself off the hook. 鈥楢鈥� problem is not 鈥榯he鈥� problem Paul Goodman, editor of Conservative Home (a publication in fact owned by Ashcroft) highlighted a particularly pointed quote when writing about Ashcroft鈥檚 claim that 鈥淐arrie Johnson鈥檚 behaviour is preventing the prime minister leading Britain as effectively as the voters deserve鈥�. Goodman鈥檚 response was to that 鈥渨hether the charge is true or not, it deflects from the main point. Which is that the prime minister himself, not his spouse, bears responsibilities for his decisions鈥�. And indeed, many high-profile women have faced questions about their role and influence as a female political spouse. In 1992 US president Bill Clinton famously claimed that he and his wife Hillary came as a 鈥渂uy one, get one free鈥� deal. Hillary Clinton鈥檚 influence continued to raise eyebrows long after her husband鈥檚 tenure. She became something of a regarding the roles of women in public and private. What was said about her arguably revealed less about Clinton herself and more about our values as a wider society. Tellingly, concerns around spousal influence were very different during Hillary Clinton鈥檚 . In fact, far from shifting onto her husband Bill and his 鈥渋nfluence鈥� over his wife, her critics continued to attack her for her past influences over a president who had left office more than a decade previously. Hillary Clinton was often explicitly compared to a longstanding archetype 鈥� Lady Macbeth. An essentially feminine trope, the temptress exploits a fatal flaw in the tragic hero in order to gain influence over him. The same cannot be said for high-profile male political spouses, from Bill Clinton to Dennis Thatcher, husband to Margaret 鈥� or Philip May, husband to Theresa. Consider how Theresa May鈥檚 husband was described when influencing his wife during her leadership. Where Carrie Johnson is described in Ashcroft鈥檚 book as having her husband , Philip May was his wife鈥檚 . May even admitted to making the during a walking holiday with Philip. Despite the of that vote, Mr May appears to have faced little questioning from the public for his input. At worst, a male spouse is emasculated by a backstage role 鈥� think Dennis Thatcher 鈥� but the puppeteer/Macbeth trope simply doesn鈥檛 apply. The Lady Macbeth trope The British public may understandably feel a certain unease around the role of the first lady. After all, it is both undefined and arguably out of date. Although the US system could be criticised for elevating an unelected spouse to a high office of sorts, in both cases, women have to play gender roles very carefully. Who could forget those photos of Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron donning coordinated 1950s frocks to serve up a barbecue at Number 10 when their husbands were in power, carefully curating a certain type of image for the media. Ashcroft does not even have to explicitly refer to the Macbeth trope in his book excerpts to convey his message about Carrie Johnson. Those defending the prime minister鈥檚 wife, including former chancellor George Osborne, understood his meaning and cited the Shakespearean figure themselves. By now, we know that an attempt to centre on the influence of a female political spouse is to implicitly refer to this idea. The more these the figure of the first lady as a temptress captures the public imagination, the less the story is about Boris Johnson, the person who is actually both in charge of and responsible for decisions about airlifts and abiding by lockdown rules. Debates will continue about whether Carrie Johnson was in the wrong, or whether she is a private citizen who owes no answers to her husband鈥檚 voters. It鈥檚 unlikely that we鈥檒l ever get to the bottom of how much truth there is to Ashcroft鈥檚 book. But debating the merits of his accusations misses the point. The choice to centre a (female) political spouse in the cross-hairs of this volume 鈥� and our collective willingness to allow the debate around said volume to divert attention away from the political leader at a key moment 鈥� highlights something much broader at stake. Both are deeply revealing about the roles of men and women in public life. , Lecturer in the Politics of Gender, This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
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