Leaves one conservation group to join another

Carrie Symonds, Boris Johnston’s fiancé, has joined The Aspinall Foundation (TAF) as its head of communications.

The animal rights organisation campaigns for the conservation of endangered species and returning them to wild protected areas.

Symonds is former head of Conservative party comms and joins Aspinall from marine conservation group Oceana, where she specialised in combating plastic pollution.

Globally renowned for its ground-breaking work to repatriate animals to the wild, TAF has released hundreds of animals back to their natural habitats.

Through its Back To The Wild Programme, TAF rewilds animals from its two UK wildlife parks - Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve and Howletts Wild Animal Park - and other European collections, with the objective of closing the parks in the next 25 years.

Damian Aspinall, Chairman of TAF, said: "Carrie takes up her new role at an exciting time for the Foundation and we are delighted to have someone of her calibre on the team.

"She's a passionate champion for wildlife and conservation, whose energy and expertise will be a huge asset to us."