Court rules Boris owes £535 debt
Prime Minister fails to pay a £535 claim after county court verdict
PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has failed to pay or contest a £535 county court judgment issued against him six months ago.
No10 refused to reveal what the legal dispute was about but insisted it was “totally without merit” and would now be challenged through the courts.
It is another embarrassment for a prime minister accused of living beyond his means with a chaotic private life, and dithering at key points in the pandemic.
Details of the judgment, obtained by Private Eye and seen by the Mirror, show the claim was made online against Mr Johnson at his Downing Street address. He is believed to be the first serving PM to have received a CCJ.
The claimant, who won the judgment on October 26, is not named. An official at the HM Courts and Tribunals Service told the Mirror details on the claim form were “confidential”. Downing Street failed to explain yesterday how the county court claim went through unchallenged.
Mr Johnson and his staff should have received several letters during the legal process.
No 10 said: “An application will be made for an order to set aside the default judgment, to strike out the claim and for a declaration that the claim is... without merit.”
Earlier, the PM’s official spokesman denied the claim had anything to do with the controversial refurb of Mr Johnson’s apartment.
Asked whether the Prime Minister could be trusted with the nation’s finances if he could not manage his own, the spokesman said: “I think our record on the economy is very clear.”
Asked whether there should be concerns about the PM’s personal finances, Mr Johnson’s press secretary said: “You should not be concerned, no.”
News of the unpaid CCJ comes as Mr Johnson is facing an investigation into the funding of renovations to the flat he shares with his fiancée Carrie Symonds and their baby above 11 Downing Street.
The judgment was issued less than a fortnight after Tory donor Lord Brownlow told the party he was giving £58,000 “to cover the payments the party has already made on behalf of the soon-to-be formed ‘Downing Street Trust’”. The Electoral Commission is probing whether loans used to fund the refurbishment works were properly declared.
Mr Johnson has insisted he “covered the costs” and refused to confirm whether he received an initial loan. The Prime Minister gets £30,000 of public money annually to spend on his living quarters. The redecorating is reported to have cost as much as £200,000.
Last month, Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings claimed the PM had planned to make up the difference by having donors “secretly pay” for the work, and described the move as “unethical, foolish, possibly illegal”.
Mr Johnson is also under investigation by the Commons’ “sleaze” watchdog over his controversial New Year break on the private island of Mustique.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards Kathryn Stone is probing whether he properly declared the £15,000 stay on the Caribbean hideaway.
Angela Rayner, Labour Deputy Leader, said: “This is not about Boris Johnson’s personal finances. The issue of debt when it comes to the Prime Minister is whatever debt of gratitude Boris Johnson owes to the Tory donor who paid to renovate his flat.”
A Government website on CCJ judgments says: “This means that the court has formally decided that you owe the money.”
The PM is said to have griped his £157,372 salary is less than he needs.
I think our record on the economy is very clear... you shouldn’t be concerned
PM’S SPOKESMAN ON BRITISH AND HIS PERSONAL FINANCES