Boris Johnson today defended keeping powers to overrule his new sleaze adviser Lord Geidt despite complaints the PM being in control is comparable to ‘a thief investigating a burglary’. The PM insisted the newly-appointed ministerial standards adviser will do an ‘outstanding job’ after he was tasked with reviewing the murky funding of the No11 flat … Read more
The inquiry by the Electoral Commission into the funding of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street makeover has the potential to become the biggest investigation directly affecting No 10 since the New Labour ‘Cash for Honours’ scandal. While the MPs’ expenses scandal involved senior ministers, No 10 was not directly implicated, and only a handful of backbench MPs … Read more
The Electoral Commission’s job is to regulate the financial activities of the most powerful people in the country – politicians up to and including the Prime Minister. As I know from my experience as a Commissioner, it is always unpopular in the highest circles, always being accused of bias and threatened with abolition. Its resources … Read more
Gone were the usual smiles, smirks and ho-ho-hos. Instead, the Boris Johnson in the Commons chamber yesterday was suddenly a man fighting tooth and claw for his reputation. A week of woeful headlines over his Downing Street flat’s refurbishment, not to mention an investigation by the Electoral Commission announced moments before, had clearly left him … Read more
The Prime Minister’s decision to appoint the Queen‘s former private secretary as his new ethics adviser triggered an instant row last night when it emerged Boris Johnson will be able to overrule his findings. Following months of delay, Sir Christopher Geidt was finally named as the new independent adviser on ministers’ interests. He was immediately handed … Read more
An enraged Boris Johnson traded blows with Keir Starmer today after the elections watchdog launched a formal probe into whether ‘offences’ have been committed in the Downing Street flat row. They also clashed over the disputed claims that Mr Johnson said he would rather see ‘bodies pile up’ than trigger another lockdown last Autumn. Here … Read more
A sleaze inquiry into Boris Johnson’s trip to Mustique is still ongoing some 16 months after the Prime Minister’s lavish Caribbean holiday. Downing Street yesterday said Mr Johnson had made all relevant declarations after the ten-day luxury villa break, which was worth £15,000. But senior Tories are braced for fresh criticism of Mr Johnson over … Read more
Like many of the most explosive political bombshells, the Downing Street flat scandal had a long fuse. It was fourteen months ago – back in February 2020 – that officials first became alarmed by renovations to the No 11 flat. They had good reason not to pay too much attention to decorators who had been … Read more
Downing Street insiders fear Dominic Cummings could publish WhatsApp messages that are at the hear of the government’s who-said-what row over lockdown. Former chief adviser Cummings is locked in an explosive war of words with Boris Johnson after Downing Street accused him of a string of leaks – including claims about the PM’s £58,000 flat … Read more
Number 10 officials ‘contacted Alistair Darling to see if he would sit on a trust that would cover renovation costs of Downing Street estate’ Ex-Labour Chancellor allegedly contacted by No 10 officials via Sir Keir’s office They wanted him to sit on a trust that would cover any renovation costs of estate It is understood he … Read more