Friday, December 10, 2021
Downing Street flat refurbishment bites the Tories
The ongoing controversy over Boris Johnson's refurbishment of the Downing Street flat reached a sort of conclusion yesterday with the Electoral Commission fining the Tory Party £17,800 for breaching electoral law.
As the Mirror reports, the long-awaited Electoral Commission probe found laws on the reporting of donations "were not followed" over the costly revamp:
The Tories "failed to fully report" a £67,801.72 donation in October 2020 from Huntswood Associates Limited - a firm controlled by the Tory peer Lord Brownlow.
That loan included £52,801.72 for the costs of revamping the flat. But the full value was not included in the Conservatives' quarterly donations report, the Commission found.
The party's records of the £53k sum were "not accurate" and there were "serious failings in the party’s compliance systems," the Electoral Commission said.
The finding will raise a fresh sleaze row over Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie.
The pair faced months of questions over works in the four-bed living space above 11 Downing Street - traditionally used by PMs as it is bigger 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 Mrs Johnson living there.
But she 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 inspired by designer Lulu Lytle is said to have included £840-a-roll wallpaper, a £9,800 Baby Bear sofa and a £3,000 Lily Drum table.
There was a £30,000 cap on taxpayer cash contributing to the work - so the PM had to find the cash himself, or from donors. But there were months of questions about where the money came from.
Eventually it emerged “additional invoices” were received and paid by the Cabinet Office - and billed to the Conservative Party in July 2020.
The Prime Minister eventually scrapped the deal and paid Lulu Lytle for the work himself in March - but only after details had been published in the press in February.
No10 has consistently refused to reveal the original source of funds for the refurb - stating opaquely that Mr Johnson had “covered the cost” and “settled the full amount” for the work.
At the rate we are going it can't be long before there is a new occupant of this flat. Will the next Prime MInister rip it all out and start again?
Update: things are getting worse for the Prime Minister with him now being caight out in an obvious lie over this flat refurbishment. The Guardian reports that Johnson’s integrity is once again under the spotlight after an official report suggested he gave differing accounts to investigators looking into the redecoration of his Downing Street flat.
The paper says that documents released by the Electoral Commission have revealed Johnson sent a WhatsApp message to the Tory donor Lord Brownlow in November last year seeking more money for the costly makeover. This is despite the fact that in an earlier inquiry into the matter, Johnson had assured Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, that he did not know who had given money for the work until it was revealed by the media in February this year.
As the Mirror reports, the long-awaited Electoral Commission probe found laws on the reporting of donations "were not followed" over the costly revamp:
The Tories "failed to fully report" a £67,801.72 donation in October 2020 from Huntswood Associates Limited - a firm controlled by the Tory peer Lord Brownlow.
That loan included £52,801.72 for the costs of revamping the flat. But the full value was not included in the Conservatives' quarterly donations report, the Commission found.
The party's records of the £53k sum were "not accurate" and there were "serious failings in the party’s compliance systems," the Electoral Commission said.
The finding will raise a fresh sleaze row over Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie.
The pair faced months of questions over works in the four-bed living space above 11 Downing Street - traditionally used by PMs as it is bigger 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 Mrs Johnson living there.
But she 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 inspired by designer Lulu Lytle is said to have included £840-a-roll wallpaper, a £9,800 Baby Bear sofa and a £3,000 Lily Drum table.
There was a £30,000 cap on taxpayer cash contributing to the work - so the PM had to find the cash himself, or from donors. But there were months of questions about where the money came from.
Eventually it emerged “additional invoices” were received and paid by the Cabinet Office - and billed to the Conservative Party in July 2020.
The Prime Minister eventually scrapped the deal and paid Lulu Lytle for the work himself in March - but only after details had been published in the press in February.
No10 has consistently refused to reveal the original source of funds for the refurb - stating opaquely that Mr Johnson had “covered the cost” and “settled the full amount” for the work.
At the rate we are going it can't be long before there is a new occupant of this flat. Will the next Prime MInister rip it all out and start again?
Update: things are getting worse for the Prime Minister with him now being caight out in an obvious lie over this flat refurbishment. The Guardian reports that Johnson’s integrity is once again under the spotlight after an official report suggested he gave differing accounts to investigators looking into the redecoration of his Downing Street flat.
The paper says that documents released by the Electoral Commission have revealed Johnson sent a WhatsApp message to the Tory donor Lord Brownlow in November last year seeking more money for the costly makeover. This is despite the fact that in an earlier inquiry into the matter, Johnson had assured Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, that he did not know who had given money for the work until it was revealed by the media in February this year.
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The next occupant of Number 10 may well be childless, so the flat above Number 11 will no longer be needed. Perhaps, with its sumptuous furniture, it can be hired out to a TV production company in order to recoup some of the expenditure. It would be a fitting setting for an English version of Sex and the City.
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