Jennifer Arcuri says Boris Johnson’s top staff KNEW he had a ‘crush’ on her

The tech entrepreneur answered questions from the Greater London Authority’s Oversight Committee after attending trade missions with the PM during an alleged affair

Boris Johnson’s “crush” on Jennifer Arcuri was an open secret among his own staff, the model-turned-tech entrepreneur claimed today.

Ms Arcuri, who has said she had a four-year affair with the then-London mayor, indicated “at least three high-profile figures” at City Hall knew or suspected the pair were an item.

The US entrepreneur was given access to three taxpayer-funded trade trips led by the now-PM – who appeared at events she organised. Her companies also received £126,000 of taxpayer cash in event sponsorships and grants.

She has insisted there was no conflict of interest. She has also previously told the Sunday Mirror she “made love” with Mr Johnson on the family sofa in his marital home during a four-year affair that began in 2012.

Asked who in the mayor’s office was aware of her close relationship with Mr Johnson, Ms Arcuri told the Greater London Authority’s Oversight Committee: “I don’t necessarily want to go into answering personal details.

“But I will say it was not so much that people knew about my secrets, any more than I knew of theirs.

“There was a lot of, I mean, I can name at least three high-profile figures – people knew there was an interest of the mayor in me, that he had somewhat of a crush on me.

“When we went to events everyone could see the dramatic difference of this man when I entered the room.

“So there was not ever a time when I had to say anything – people kind of assumed what they wanted. But there was never any discussion about any of it.”

The GLA is investigating whether Mr Johnson’s failure to declare the relationship breached the City Hall code of conduct.

The Prime Minister insisted in 2019 there was “no interest to declare” but has repeatedly dodged questions over whether he had a sexual relationship with Ms Arcuri.

In a session lasting almost two hours, Ms Arcuri insisted she was “already” going to New York and Tel Aviv when Mr Johnson took trade trips there – and was only part of one trip formally in Malaysia.

She branded claims that a mayoral aide told her she could attend the New York mission unofficially “completely false”.

However, she also revealed she had two phone calls with the then-mayor ahead of the New York and Malaysia missions – and scolded him over cyber-security risks.

She added “was also formally on other trade missions that never got mentioned in press”, including a cyber select mission to Washington and part of a trade mission to San Francisco.

Ms Arcuri said she told Mr Johnson New York would “eat you alive” – and gave him “a mouthful” about cyber-security risks in Malaysia.

She said: “He wasn’t really a fan of technology at that time do it wasn’t – I was more do you have a private VPN? Have you set up two factor authentication? Don’t connect to free wi-fi! Has anyone trained you on any of this?”

Ms Arcuri told London politicians she was an “aggressive” networker and City Hall staff “would roll their eyes, ‘there’s Jenifer again, good luck saying no to her’.”

But she insisted: “That was more of the tone than sitting there going ‘hoo hee, let’s talk about the private life’.”

Speaking about herself in the third person she told the committee: “Jennifer Arcuri was the most annoying, perserverant hustler.

“Even when they said no, I didn’t listen, I assumed yes – ‘find another way to say yes to me’, those are my words. I would invite them relentlessly.

“So my relationship with the mayor or non-relationship had really no bearing in my complete pursuit of London and my ability to build the business.”

Tory Minister for London Paul Scully responded by attacking London politicians for holding the investigation at all.

He said: “ Labour politicians in City Hall have wasted police time with malicious complaints. They want to waste more taxpayers’ money with partisan point scoring.”

Claiming Labour’s Sadiq Khan had failed to build enough houses or deal with a “violent crime epidemic” he added: “Throughout, this has been a smoke screen to cover up Sadiq Khan’s lamentable record as Mayor.”