Any donations Boris Johnson received over the controversial refurbishment of his Downing Street flat are expected to be published by the end of the month.
His new ministerial standards adviser, Lord Geidt, said on Thursday that he is “determined” to publish the long-overdue list of ministers’ interests before May is up.
The crossbench peer told MPs that “alongside” the list he will publish his report into the declaration of any donations the Prime Minister received to help cover the costs of the lavish renovations in No 11.
The list of ministers’ interests has not been published since July last year but Lord Geidt said he is “in the process of receiving” the relevant papers.
“I would plan to publish that advice alongside the declaration of interests,” Lord Geidt added. He was appointed to the role last month as the Electoral Commission launched a formal investigation into the renovations, saying there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect an offence. The delay in publishing the list of interests was blamed on the post being empty, but Lord Geidt told MPs it was “unfortunate” that there was no publication in the interim. “I do think that it was unfortunate that the list that we imagine should’ve been published in December 2020 wasn’t, and that is why I’m driven to act with as much urgency as I can to get this next list published at the end of the month,” he said.
Last modified on Thu 13 May 2021 08.52 EDT
The new adviser on UK ministersâ interests has said he will resign if his advice is ignored, as he promised a long-delayed report that could lift the lid on whether Boris Johnson broke the rules on declaring political donations will be published by the end of May.
Christopher Geidt was appointed two weeks ago to a government post that has attracted wide attention after his predecessor, Sir Alex Allan, quit in November 2020 when the prime minister overrode his finding that the home secretary, Priti Patel, bullied Home Office staff.
The post has remained vacant for months, prompting speculation that Johnson was avoiding appointing a new adviser because of questions about whether he failed to declare a substantial donation he had received to help fund works reported to have cost up to £200,000 at the No 11 Downing Street flat he occupies with his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, and their son, Wilfred.
Tory victory in Hartlepool by-election signals death throes of UK Labour Party
The Labour Party suffered a rout in Thursday’s Hartlepool by-election, giving the Conservative Party the seat for the first time in the constituency’s 62-year history. Jill Mortimer, the Tory candidate, won 51.9 percent of the vote, versus Paul Williams’s 28.7 percent for Labour a massive 16 percent swing to the Tory Party compared to the last election in 2019.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson poses for photographers with Jill Mortimer, the winning Conservative Party candidate of the Hartlepool by-election, at Hartlepool Marina, in Hartlepool, north east England, Friday, May 7, 2021.
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