Boris Johnson is deeply protective of his personal life – but one thing almost universally acknowledged by those who know him is that he has a tricky relationship with money.
It came as little surprise to them, therefore, that he was alleged to have secretly secured an up to £800,000 loan guarantee while prime minister.
“He used to say he was never being paid enough,” one source who worked in No 10 under Johnson recalled. “He was so incredibly tight with money, jokes were made if his wallet ever came out.”
Another described him as a “wheeler-dealer”, and claimed that at the time, staff in Downing Street felt there were some “quite ridiculous arrangements going on” to fund his lifestyle – referring to the way Johnson’s flat redecoration was initially funded before he repaid the costs personally.
The credit facility loan is said to have been guaranteed by a distant Canadian cousin of Johnson, introduced to the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, by Richard Sharp just before he was recruited as the BBC’s chairman.
It only came to light at the weekend after a report in the Sunday Times. But Johnson’s financial reliance on others stretches back many years.
When the redecoration of the Downing Street flat where he lived with his wife, Carrie, and their children was under way, some of the funding initially came from a Conservative peer, David Brownlow.
Brownlow provided £58,000 to cover part of the bill for the lavish interior design makeover, before Johnson paid all the costs after the arrangement emerged.
“I couldn’t understand why they had to have such expensive wallpaper,” sighed a cabinet minister who served under Johnson, talking about the alleged cost of £840 a roll.
Caroline Slocock, a former private secretary to Margaret Thatcher, said the former prime minister was much more frugal when it came to spending money than Johnson – including on the Downing Street flat.
“Thatcher paid for her own ironing board, and declined two extra sets of taxpayer-funded bedsheets because she was not only naturally thrifty, but also very concerned about the optics,” Slocock said.
Johnson’s credit facility and the lack of any previous declaration about it are evidence of a “constitutional hole” whereby some gifts, donations and financial help need to be recorded publicly and others do not, Slocock said.
She added: “There could be there’s nothing wrong with these things but it’s the perception isn’t it? The secrecy makes it worse.”
As well as the flat redesign, Johnson is also believed to have incurred high costs from an expensive divorce from his ex-wife, Marina Wheeler. If his at least seven children have benefited from costly private schooling, that could also have quickly added up to six-figure sums.
A spokesperson for Johnson denied he used the loan facility to pay back the refurb, or drew on it to support other aspects of his lifestyle, including nannies and school fees, instead saying he met all expenses personally.
Johnson has regularly been offered financial support, whether that be through free holidays or accommodation.
Among the most generous benefactors are Lord and Lady Bamford, of the construction equipment manufacturer JCB. They covered £23,000 worth of his wedding celebration – from the hire of a marquee to portable toilets, flowers and an ice-cream van.
The register of members’ interests shows the pair have, between them, given gifts and hospitality worth an estimated £84,000 since Johnson said he would stand down as prime minister.
Separately, he was given a Caribbean holiday worth at least £15,000 fresh after winning the 2019 general election. The trip was “facilitated” by David Ross, a Tory donor and co-founder of Carphone Warehouse, but an investigation was launched into it by the standards commissioner when it emerged the villa he stayed at was owned by Sarah Richardson, a US financier.
Johnson was hardly living on the breadline when he was PM, however. As well as being entitled to a £164,080 salary, he is reported to have rented out two properties – in Camberwell, south London, and Thame, Oxfordshire.
He also earned thousands from his books, and was paid handsomely for a Daily Telegraph column to the tune of £22,900 for 10 hours’ work per month in the year leading up to his stint in No 10.
As a former prime minister, Johnson also gets an allowance of up to £115,000. The Liberal Democrats have launched a bid to try to deny him access to it until he “comes clean” about the latest loans.
The party’s chief whip, Wendy Chamberlain, explained the rationale, saying: “We know he’s only interested in following the money, so it’s time to hit him where it hurts – his wallet.”
As well as making lucrative speeches since leaving office, Johnson also received a donation of £1m from a Thai-based British businessman – one of the biggest ever recorded to an individual UK politician.
Johnson brushed off questions about the credit facility when questioned by journalists outside his home on Monday, and has denied any conflict of interest in Sharp’s involvement coming just before he was appointed to a top job at the BBC.
Sharp himself said he was not involved in guaranteeing or arranging a loan and that he believes he was appointed on merit.
A spokesperson for Johnson also said Sharp had “never given any financial advice” to him, and denied Johnson had “sought any financial advice from him”.
They added that all Johnson’s financial arrangements had been “properly declared and registered on the advice of officials”.
