Boris Johnson has 24 hours from tomorrow to hand over any communications he had with Jennifer Arcuri while London Mayor or he will be forced to explain himself in person.
The Prime Minister must respond to a summons from the London Assembly to provide details of his relationship with the US model-turned-technology entrepreneur.
Committee members and officials will meet on Tuesday to decide which other witnesses it will ask to appear – potentially including Ms Arcuri.
Emails revealed on Sunday show the PM wrote a letter recommending his friend, who has denied they had an affair, for a £100,000-a-year job leading a technology quango.
She listed the then Mayor as a reference for the post, which reported directly to No10 and for which she was woefully under-qualified.
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said: “These allegations raise questions about the ease with which this Prime Minister wilfully abuses power.”
Ms Arcuri, 34, was said to have been a 27-year-old student when applying for the job as chief exec of the Tech City quango.
She allegedly later wrote: “I still have the letter of rec from Boris. hahaha. To think that we asked him to write us a recommendation for the CEO of Tech City is just hysterical.”
In a rambling exclusive interview with the Mirror last week, Ms Arcuri described suggestions that she had been Mr Johnson’s lover as “complete bulls**t”.
Len Duvall, chairman of the Assembly’s oversight committee, wrote to Mr Johnson on September 24 giving him two weeks to hand over the messages.
If he fails to respond he could be summoned to appear before them. The PM could face a jail term of up to three months or unlimited fine if he fails to appear if asked.
Four separate investigations have been launched into Mr Johnson’s links to Arcuri after it emerged her firm received public money from an organisation he was responsible for and went on two overseas trade missions that she was not eligible for.
Mr Johnson, claimed that there was “no interest to declare” and pledged to “cooperate with the Assembly”.
Yesterday was a bad day for the PM as a woman in his Uxbridge constituency went viral after calling him a “filthy piece of toerag” on TV.
