Clarification sought by standards adviser over PM’ s flat investigation

Lord Geidt demanded clarification from No 10 after an Electoral Commission investigation into the refurbishment of Boris Johnson’s flat raised concerns the prime minister may have misled the standards adviser.

Labour has called for the ministerial standards adviser to reopen his investigation into the funding of the lavish renovations over “inconsistencies” between his report and a damning ruling from the Electoral Commission.

Downing Street did not deny suggestions Lord Geidt had been angered by the watchdog’s report raising doubts about the prime minister’s denial that he knew a Tory peer was behind donations for the works costing more than £112,500.

But it was understood the thinking inside No 10 was that Lord Geidt would not formally reopen his investigation after his latest discussions with Downing Street officials.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We are liaising with Lord Geidt to answer any further questions he may have but beyond that I wouldn’t get into any private conversations he has with his independent adviser.”

He declined to say whether the peer has been provided with the WhatsApp messages between Mr Johnson and donor Lord Brownlow that the Electoral Commission saw and which prompted Labour to accuse the PM of lying to the adviser.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner wrote to Lord Geidt calling for him to inspect the apparent contradictions between his report from May and the election watchdog’s report from Thursday, which saw the Tories fined £17,800 for not following the law over donations to cover the work in No 11 from Lord Brownlow.

However, Lord Geidt, does not have the power to independently open investigations, with the prime minister rejecting calls to hand him that ability.

The pressure comes as Mr Johnson faces an investigation into allegations of Covid rulebreaching parties in Downing Street last Christmas and anger from Tory MPs over fresh coronavirus restrictions.

In a statement, Ms Rayner said: “We now know that in the days before he imposed the 2021 winter lockdown, the prime minister went from allegedly hosting an illegal party in Downing Street to asking super-rich Tory donors to secretly fund the luxury refurb of his flat.

“Not only has the Conservative Party broken the law, but its prime minister has made a mockery of the standards we expect.

“If Boris Johnson refuses a fresh investigation, that standard will be lowered significantly – setting the bar woefully low for our country’s public life.”

The Electoral Commission’s report raised further questions by discussing evidence that Mr Johnson had sent the Tory peer a WhatsApp message in November 2020 “asking him to authorise further, at that stage unspecified, refurbishment works on the residence”, to which he agreed.

This was despite Mr Johnson having told Lord Geidt he had no knowledge of the payments until immediately prior to media reports in February.

His official spokesman denied Mr Johnson had lied, insisting he has “acted in accordance with the rules at all times”.

In its defence, Downing Street said the prime minister did not know Lord Brownlow was providing the money to the “blind trust” he was organising.

The Information Commissioner’s Office said it was “making inquiries” after receiving a complaint over the Cabinet Office saying in a response to a freedom of information request from the Times that it had no records of any messages exchanged between Mr Johnson and Lord Brownlow.

The Daily Telegraph reported Lord Geidt was on the verge of quitting after the report was published, in what would be a significant blow to Mr Johnson’s premiership.

PROBE: Mr and Mrs Johnson, pictured outside 10 Downing Street. Their flat is next door at No 11.