It’s been dubbed the “cash for cushions” scandal by observers on Twitter.
Now Boris Johnson is facing mounting questions about exactly how he funded a lavish revamp of his Downing Street flat.
He’s spent a rumoured £58,000 doing up the four-bed residence he occupies with fiancee Carrie Symonds – despite reportedly being skint after a divorce.
The plush interiors are said to include gold wall coverings as SNP accused him of “living it up like a modern day Louis the Sixteenth”.
No10 insist the £157,372-a-year Prime Minister paid for the revamp out of his own pocket – despite trying to set up a Trust to fund No10 repairs.
But it’s now being reported he borrowed or took that money from a donor to the Tory party.
That would raise a litany of ethical questions – and suggest journalists may have been misled in March, when No10 said no Conservative funds were involved.
Labour say the “stench” is growing and are demanding a proper investigation. The Head of the Civil Service Simon Case is personally leading a review.
And SNP MP Kirsten Oswald said allegations of “impropriety and potential illegality” and concerns over “Tory money laundering” must be answered.
Cabinet minister Therese Coffey insisted today: “I don’t think the majority of the British public are interested in wallpapers or sofas or something like that.
“We need to keep moving on in terms of what’s going to make a difference to people’s lives in the year ahead.”
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But a poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found 50% agree “there is a culture of sleaze in the UK government”. Just 11% disagreed.
And Labour’s Jon Ashworth neatly summed up the dilemma. He told Times Radio: “If you are the most powerful politician in the land we need to know who you are beholden to.
“We need to know who has paid for your sofas and your beds and your bed linen because we need to know if a business person has funded it.
“Does that business person have an interest in government policy? Do they have an interest in winning government contracts?”
As No10 now refuses to deny a Tory donor was involved, we take you through the twists and turns of the latest sleaze saga to hit the government.
What’s the row all about?
The Prime Minister faces questions over works overseen by his fiancee Carrie Symonds in the four-bed living space above 11 Downing Street – traditionally used by PMs as it is bigger and more luxurious than the two-bed flat above No10.
When they arrived in 2019, a No10 spokeswoman said there would not be “any additional cost to the taxpayer” of Ms Symonds living there.
But the 32-year-old has since removed Theresa May ’s “John Lewis furniture nightmare”, according to an article in Tatler – a decade since David and Samantha Cameron had a £30,000 new kitchen fitted.
The makeover is said to have been inspired by designer Lulu Lytle, and include £840-a-roll wallpaper, a £9,800 Baby Bear sofa and a £3,000 Lily Drum table.
Crucially, however, there was a £30,000 cap on taxpayer cash contributing to the work – so the PM had to find the cash himself. That’s where things get murky.
Despite his generous salary as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson is said to have complained about money troubles since his divorce from wife Marina Wheeler.
(Image: PA)
So, who paid for the flat makeover?
It’s complicated.
Mostly because No10 are refusing to tell us.
The Cabinet Office finally announced on Friday the wider refurbishment costs of the flat were “met by the PM personally”.
The two big questions are: What did he try to do first before he realised he’d have to pay? And once he did have to pay, where did he get the money from?
On the first question, it emerged work had been ongoing for a full year to try to set up a charitable Trust to fund repairs in Downing Street.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed Tory peer and donor Lord Brownlow had agreed to chair the Trust – but it’s still mired in discussions and isn’t set up.
“This is a genuinely complicated legal, policy, propriety issue,” Mr Case told MPs, with questions for the government and Charity Commission.
(Image: PA)
Most importantly, the top civil servant added, a charity would not be able to fund the private areas of Downing Street – meaning it couldn’t pay for the flat.
That brings us to the second question. No10 and the Cabinet Secretary have failed to deny reports Tory HQ gave £58,000 to the Cabinet Office to fund the works – only for Boris Johnson to repay the Tories later on.
That would suggest the Prime Minister was given help by a Tory donor in some form, at the very least in the form of a loan.
Mr Case appeared to hint at an arrangement, saying: “As the PM has said all of this will be declared in the proper way. The PM will make relevant declarations.”
Hang on, so where exactly did the money flow?
According to the Daily Mail, which has carried most leaks about the flat revamp, Tory chiefs agreed to pay the £58,000 bill to the Cabinet Office in July last year.
Lord Brownlow then e-mailed the party’s chairman in October, saying he had given the party £58,000 to cover the costs, the Mail reported.
The Mail reported that, if Mr Johnson has now paid the bill, that means Lord Brownlow’s gift could have been turned into a loan to the PM personally.
Or, Mr Johnson has reimbursed £58,000 to the Tory party to cover Lord Brownlow’s payment from October, the newspaper suggested.
A No10 spokeswoman today issued a carefully-worded statement, saying: “Conservative Party funds are not being used for this.” Note that it’s in the present tense, so doesn’t cover what might have happened in the past.
Whatever has happened, what we do know is this still hasn’t been declared publicly through any of the authorities – nine months from the start of the saga.
This is the crucial bit for the public interest.
Why does this matter?
Firstly, it is crucial that the Prime Minister does not take favours from people who could ask favours from him in return.
That’s why MPs and ministers have to declare gifts, hospitality, donations and the like – to make sure any conflicts of interest can be policed.
We don’t know for sure if the PM took a favour from someone privately that could put him under pressure.
Secondly, we need our authorities to be transparent to avoid these sorts of conflicts of interest. No10 has not been transparent about this. After months of questioning, key questions remain unanswered.
Thirdly, while it’s the PM’s residence, a lot of time and energy is being wasted on this issue while people still die of Covid every day.
Head of the Civil Service Simon Case is personally reviewing the revamp – while the government says it’s too busy for a public inquiry to learn lessons from the pandemic.
Former commissioner for standards Sir Alistair Graham told Times Radio: “For Simon Case to have been asked to review who paid for the refurbishment, is a real Whitehall farce.
“Why are we wasting the Cabinet Secretary’s precious time when all we need is for Mr Johnson to come forward and explain to us how he paid for it?”
Did No10 mislead the public?
That’s a wide open question.
On March 8, the PM’s Press Secretary Allegra Stratton told journalists: “Conservative Party funds are not being used to pay for any refurbishment of the Downing Street estate.
“Conservative HQ supports the leader of the Tory party in their political activities, but not in the way that it’s being accused of.”
Yet the PM’s spokesman refused several times today to stand by that statement.
Instead he said: “I’ve seen the reports and the speculation on that, I’m not going to jump ahead of any potential declarations that need to be made.”
(Image: REUTERS)
Labour wrote to the Cabinet Secretary today demanding to know if Ms Stratton – who’s been replaced as Press Secretary since – misled the public.
Deputy leader Angela Rayner wrote: “As a Special Adviser, Allegra Stratton is bound by the Civil Service Code which sets out standards of integrity and honesty required from public officials.
“Therefore, I would urge you to build into your review an investigation into whether the former Press Secretary knowingly misled journalists and the public, or was misled herself by senior members of the government who seem intent on a cover up.”
Did Boris Johnson break any rules?
No10 insist he didn’t – his spokesman said “he has acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law” – but eyebrows are being raised.
Donations should ordinarily be declared with the Electoral Commission four times a year, within 30 days of the end of the quarter. Any donation here hasn’t been.
The Commission said: “Discussions with the Conservative Party continue as we work to establish whether any sums relating to the works at 11 Downing Street fall within the regime regulated by the Commission, and therefore need to be reported and subsequently published. The Party is working with us on this.”
MPs should also update their register of interests in Parliament “within 28 days” of a donation or other payment. There’s been no donation of that kind.
Lastly and most importantly, ministers declare their interests through a separate register for ministers – and that still hasn’t been published since July.
What’s more, the Ministerial Code says: “Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.”
If Boris Johnson took a donation and concealed it for a lengthy period of time, critics might argue that was a reasonable perception of a conflict of interest. The rules could be more complex if it was a loan or if the status of the money changed.
When will we know the details?
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case is leading a review into the funding of the flat refurb which should conclude in a “matter of weeks”.
But the long-delayed list of ministers’ interests, last published in July, will not be updated until a new independent adviser on ministerial standards is in place.
Sir Alex Allan resigned from the role in November in response to Mr Johnson standing by Home Secretary Priti Patel despite Sir Alex’s investigation finding her conduct “amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying”.
It’s thought the new advisor is due to be announced shortly but has wavered over taking the role.
What have critics said?
Labour’s Rachel Reeves, Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, has accused the Tories of trying to “cover up the truth behind the original donors for the luxury refurbishment of the Downing Street flat.”
She added: “There are still crucial puzzle pieces missing here, and little logic as to why a trust was needed in the first place if the PM is paying, nor why Lord Brownlow was lined up for chair if his donations were irrelevant.”
Former commissioner for standards Sir Alistair Graham told Times Radio the PM’s behaviour has been “extremely bizarre”, adding: “It is about standards and standards are vital to our political system.”
SNP Westminster Deputy Leader Kirsten Oswald said: “While many families have been struggling to get by due to Tory cuts and gaps in support, Boris Johnson has been living it up like a modern day Louis the Sixteenth.”
What have the PM’s defenders said?
Allies of the PM claim the public don’t care about who funded the refurb – and are happy as long as it’s not the taxpayer.
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey told LBC Radio: “The Prime Minister has probably spent more time in the Number 10 flat than Prime Minister’s normally would, also the birth of his young son, having his family there.
“So I think it’s no surprise if people with a different family atmosphere moving into a private residence in Number 10 want to make changes. The important thing is the Prime Minister has said that he has paid for that.”
