US businesswoman says she told PM last week she would speak out against him

Jennifer Arcuri, the US businesswoman at the centre of conflict of interest allegations against Boris Johnson, has said she warned the prime minister last week that she would speak out against him after he repeatedly refused to take her calls.

In a round of live broadcast interviews on Monday, Arcuri said Johnson should apologise for ignoring her and allowing her to be “fed to the lions” since news of their relationship became public.

Speaking on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme she read out a text she said she had sent Johnson last week after he had hung up on her call and refused to take further calls.

It said: “Is this the price of loyalty, to be hung up on, ignored and blocked? Why would I remain silent if you can’t even speak to me? And I’ve been nothing but loyal to you.”

She again refused to confirm whether she had an affair with Johnson but suggested he was sexually attracted to her. She said: “I couldn’t believe the fervent, linear focus which he had on me. And I assure you, it was not just a sexual intention. He actually was very intrigued by my energy, my ability to get things done. He loved my events. And he saw the way I could work a room.”

She said she had come to London to “call out” Johnson “for just looking the other way and allowing me to be fed to lions”.

Johnson’s register of interests as mayor makes no mention of Arcuri or her company, but he spoke at four of her events. She was also given thousands of pounds of sponsorship by the mayor’s promotional agency London & Partners and access to trade trips with Johnson despite failing to meeting the criteria.

The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) has been asked to decide whether there is enough evidence to mount a criminal investigation against Johnson into possible misconduct in public office over alleged favours to Arcuri. Separately, the chair of a London assembly investigation into the allegations revealed he was reviewing Johnson’s relationship with another woman that he failed to declare.

On Monday, Arcuri said: “I would love an apology,” and added: “He’s moved on. I’ve moved on. That shouldn’t stop him from having the kind courtesy of being able to acknowledge the fact that, for a long time, I was a part of his life.”

Arcuri also confirmed that she had called Johnson in August after she realised news of their friendship was about to become public. She said Johnson had passed the call on to an aide who had “mocked” her by speaking with a Chinese accent. She said the stunt was “pathetic” and added: “It was somebody who didn’t want him speaking to me.”

Johnson has insisted he acted with full propriety and that he had no interest to declare regarding Arcuri. After being played a clip of him stating this, Arcuri initially said: “I agree with him. There was no interest. He didn’t do me any favours.”

But asked whether Johnson should have declared an interest, Arcuri then said: “Yes, if that’s what it would take to save me this humiliation.” She also confirmed that she had urged Johnson to “validate” her by publicly acknowledging her merits.

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She said: “There was just the assumption of guilt just because people looked at me and they knew him. I didn’t know that track record, but I quickly caught on. And it really bothered me the way that people were whispering from day one. I always told him: ‘Validate me. Tell people how great my events are. Tell them how much we are doing for London.’”

She insisted she had not asked Johnson to give her a place on trade missions to New York and Tel Aviv, but acknowledged that L&P, which awarded her places on the trips, “knew I knew Boris”.

Arcuri added: “There was no corruption here. I would still have been the tenacious go-getter that I was. I just happened to meet Boris first.”

A No 10 statement said: “Any claims of impropriety in office are untrue and unfounded. Given that City Hall has made an unfounded complaint to the IOPC we will not be making detailed comments until that process is finished. Full assistance has been offered to the IOPC so the matter can be quickly resolved.”