Carrie Symonds and Boris Johnson’s snobbish views on John Lewis show unrelenting privilege

In true British fashion, people are up in arms about the prime minister and his partner Carrie Symonds revealing their strong distaste for John Lewis furnishings, more so it seems than the alleged Conservative Party donation for the renovation of the Downing Street flat.

An investigation into said donation by the Electoral Commission is now underway, but Twitter simply cannot get over the department store debate. Many are arguing that John Lewis’s decor is far from the “nightmare” it was dubbed as by Symonds, and rather a pipe dream for anyone who isn’t middle class enough to afford it.

Many view the store as a well respected, reliable British institution, and as an editor on IndyBest, The Independent’s product review section, I can safely say that our readers love and trust the department store.

What the British public also loves, and further highlights a wealth divide, is the budget supermarket Aldi, in all its affordable glory. On IndyBest, we’ve seen this especially true when it comes to home furnishings. 

Our readers go wild for Aldi’s £150 egg chair, and our article on the outdoor furniture item was one of our top-read pieces this month. John Lewis’s egg chair, in comparison, will set you back £379, and garnered far less interest when we covered it. I dread to think how much a Symonds and Johnson approved version might cost. 

The Downing Street refurbishment saga suggests Johnson is completely out of touch with the spending habits of the UK public, and unsympathetic to the nation’s financial struggles during the pandemic. News that he allegedly spent a casual £200,000 on a cosmetic home refurbishment comes as many of us are obsessively checking whether a budget hanging chair has finally come back in stock. 

The prime minister has highlighted the wealth divide and shopping habits between those in power and the British public. His laughable snobbery around John Lewis simply isn’t felt by our readers or reviewers. Far from it, in fact, as products from the store are often independently selected by experts in our tried and tested reviews. Perhaps Johnson should have a read sometime.

Yours

Ellie Fry 

IndyBest deputy editor