Downing Street flat refurbishment: PM cleared of misconduct

Boris Johnson did not break the ministerial code over the funding of the Downing Street flat refurbishment, a report says.

But Lord Geidt, the prime minister's adviser on standards, found he had "unwisely" allowed work to go ahead without "more rigorous regard" for how it would be paid for.

He found that a Tory donor had settled an invoice for some of the costs.

But Mr Johnson had been unaware of this, Lord Geidt added.

This meant no conflict of interest had arisen over the refurbishment, which happened last year, beginning when the prime minister was in hospital with Covid, he said.

The prime minister receives an annual public grant of £30,000 to spend on his living quarters.

But there has been speculation that the final bill for works for the Downing Street flat, reportedly overseen by Mr Johnson's fiancée Carrie Symonds, came to as much as £200,000.

The prime minister has faced repeated questions over how they were financed, replying that he had funded the full costs.

But he has not previously said whether this meant paying the bills up-front or repaying money loaned to him or the government for the project.

Lord Geidt's report into whether the ministerial code - governing standards in office - was broken revealed that former Conservative Party vice-chairman Lord Brownlow had paid an early invoice, without stating how large this had been.

But it added that "the record shows no evidence that the prime minister had been informed by" him "that he had personally settled the total costs" of early works.

However, Lord Geidt said Mr Johnson, "unwisely, in my view, allowed the refurbishment of the apartment... to proceed without more rigorous regard for how this would be funded".

Lord Geidt also said: "Under normal circumstances, a prime minister might reasonably be expected to be curious about the arrangements, and especially the financial arrangements that led to the refurbishment of his apartment at Downing Street."

But "in the middle of a pandemic", Mr Johnson "simply accepted that a trust he was hoping to set up to handle the work "would be capable of satisfactorily resolving the situation without further interrogation", he found.

And Lord Geidt concluded that "no conflict (or reasonably perceived conflict) arises" from the involvement of Lord Brownlow or the Conservative Party in the Downing Street renovation.

He said of Lord Brownlow that "there is no evidence that he acted with anything other than altruistic and philanthropic motives".

Responding to the report, a Downing Street spokesperson said it showed the prime minister had "acted in accordance with the ministerial code at all times".

They added: "Cabinet Office officials were engaged and informed throughout and official advice was followed.

"Other than works funded through the annual allowance, the costs of the wider refurbishment of the flat are not being financed by taxpayers and have been settled by the prime minister personally."