Boris wanted JCB boss’s help for flat, claim
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SAYS BORIS CONSIDERED ASKING FOR CASH
THE Prime Minister considered approaching JCB boss Lord Bamford over the escalating costs of redecorating his flat in Downing Street, it has been claimed.
Boris Johnson is said to have spent £58,000 on decorating the No 11 flat that the Prime Minister used with his partner Carrie Symonds and thought the Tory donor could pay the costs, according to an article in the Daily Mail.
However, the article says the “Bamford option was dropped” for unknown reasons, and there is no suggestion that any approach was actually made about the money.
Lord Bamford and his companies have donated more than £10 million to the Conservatives over the years, and Tory leaders have often visited JCB factories in Staffordshire to deliver major speeches.
The Electoral Commission has now launched an investigation into how the flat revamp was paid for, saying there are “reasonable grounds to suspect an offence or offences may have occurred”. This follows allegations that an undeclared loan from the Conservative Party may have been involved.
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday Mr Johnson insisted that he had covered the cost of the renovation “personally” – but declined to say who paid the initial bill.
According to the Mail article, Mr
The cost is totally out of control – she is buying gold wallpaper! The PM referring to partner Carrie Symonds, according to the Daily Mail
Johnson was becoming alarmed at the amount Ms Symonds was spending on the flat refurb early last year.
The article says the Prime Minister told aides: “The cost is totally out of control – she’s buying gold wallpaper!”
While there is a £30,000-a-year publicly funded renovation budget available to the Prime Minister, the Mail says this left £58,000 which Mr Johnson had to pay himself.
It is alleged that Conservative Party HQ paid £58,000 to the Cabinet Office to clear the debt, reports Stokeontrentlive.
But this could have broken Electoral Commission rules which say that party funds should only be used for political campaigning.
An Electoral Commission spokesman said: “We have been in contact with the Conservative Party since late March and have conducted an assessment of the information they have provided to us.
“We are now satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred. We will therefore continue this work as a formal investigation to establish whether this is the case.
“The investigation will determine whether any transactions relating to the works at 11 Downing Street fall within the regime regulated by the Commission and whether such funding was reported as required.”
Mr Johnson denied any wrongdoing when quizzed about the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions.
He said: “The answer is I have covered the cost. Of course the Electoral Commission is investigating this, and I can say I conformed in full with the code of conduct and the ministerial code. Officials have been advising me throughout this whole thing.”
A spokesman for digger giant JCB, which has its headquarters in Rocester, said it did not wish to comment on the matter.