Boris Johnson made a major gaffe by getting into such a heated argument with his partner, Carrie Symonds, that neighbors heard the shouting and were concerned enough to call the police.

The Guardian reports Boris Johnson Under Fire Over Row with Partner as Top Tories Raise Fears.

Police confirmed they were called to the couple’s south London flat after an argument was heard by neighbours. They said they heard slamming and banging, adding that at one point Symonds could be heard telling Johnson to “get off me” and “get out of my flat”.

A poll conducted yesterday showed support for Johnson had fallen sharply following the incident. His eight-point lead for the Tory crown earlier in the week had fallen to three points behind rival Jeremy Hunt by yesterday morning. Among Tory voters, when asked who would make the best prime minister, Johnson’s lead had slumped from 27% to 11% in the same period, according to Survation, who carried out the polls for the Mail on Sunday.

Last night the neighbour who contacted the police, Tom Penn, 30, a playwright, issued a statement saying he wanted to put the record straight on his reasons for recording the row and calling 999.

Penn said: “In the early hours of Friday morning, I answered a phone call from a take-away food delivery driver. At the same time, I heard what sounded like shouting coming from the street. I went downstairs, on the phone to the driver, and collected my food. On the way back into my flat, it became clear that the shouting was coming from a neighbour’s flat. It was loud enough and angry enough that I felt frightened and concerned for the welfare of those involved, so I went inside my own home, closed the door, and pressed record on the voice memos app on my phone.

“After a loud scream and banging, followed by silence, I ran upstairs, and with my wife agreed we should check on our neighbours. I knocked three times at their front door, but there was no response. I went back upstairs into my flat, and we agreed that we should call the police.”

Another neighbour, a nursery teacher who lives with her husband and four-year-old son in the top flat next door, told the Times that she could hear “shouting and screaming”.

Fatimah, 32, said: “It was really loud, loud enough to make me turn down the TV and see what was going on. I could hear shouting and screaming from a lady, she sounded really angry. There was a man’s voice too, but he was much calmer and he was telling her to calm down but she was still chucking things about,” she said. “It went on for about 10 minutes. I’ve never heard anything like it. I was considering calling the police but then a [police] van and car came.”