Boris Johnson under investigation by election watchdog over flat refurbishment
The Electoral Commission on Wednesday announced it has launched an investigation into funding of the refurbishment of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s flat at 11 Downing Street.
The electoral spending watchdog justified its decision on the "reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred".
A spokesman for the commission claimed the investigation would "determine whether any transactions relating to the works at 11 Downing Street fall within the regime regulated by the Commission and whether such funding was reported as required".
The commission’s decision follows days of intense recriminations about the source of funding for the renovation done at the PM’s personal residence.
Labor Party leader, Keir Starmer, seized on the commission’s decision to lanch a formal investigation to apply greater pressure on the PM to come clean on the issue.
Addressing the House of Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (April 28), Starmer gave Johnson a “multiple choice” answers as to who paid for the refurbishment: the taxpayer, the Tory party, a private donor or the PM himself.
The labor leader accused the entire government of being “mired in sleaze, cronyism and scandal”.
A visibly angry Johnson hit back by proclaiming: “The answer is I have covered the costs... I conformed in full with the code of conduct and officials have kept advising me through this whole thing”.
But crucially the PM omitted to say who had paid for the renovation to start with, a Tory donor or the Conservative Party itself.
That crucial omission means the row is likely to intensify in the days and weeks ahead until the Electoral Commission concludes its investigation.
Established in 2001, the commission is ostensibly an independent body that regulates party and election finance, in addition to setting and enforcing standards on the conduct of elections.
In addition to its ability to refer investigations to the police, the commission can impose its own sanctions under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.
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