Boris Johnson “will be cleared of violating ministerial code” on renovation # 10 | Boris Johnson | News Today

Boris Johnson should be allowed to break the ministerial code on payments for the renovation of his Downing Street apartment after an independent adviser examined whether he had been misled in an initial investigation.

Lord Geidt conducted an investigation that cleared the prime minister of wrongdoing in May, but reportedly examined a discrepancy between the findings in his report and one on the same case released earlier this month by the Election Commission.

The issue centered on claims that a Tory peer had footed the bill for renovations to Apartment No.11. In his first round of findings, Geidt, the Ministerial Interests Advisor, said Johnson told him ” that he knew nothing about those payments “until immediately before media reports in February 2021.

However, the Election Commission’s own investigation indicated that it saw a WhatsApp message showing Johnson had been in direct contact with donor Lord Brownlow in November 2020 regarding the renovation of the apartment.

Brownlow donated £ 58,000 to the Tories, but the Election Commission found it had not been reported correctly and fined the party £ 17,800.

According to the Financial Times, Geidt asked Johnson for an explanation and exchanged several letters with the Prime Minister that could be released in the New Year.

The newspaper also said Johnson’s behavior had to be “critical” and that Geidt had described the situation to his colleagues as “deeply unsatisfactory” but would not change his ruling that Johnson had not broken the ministerial code.

The outcome of the investigation has been closely watched as it could prompt the launch of yet another investigation by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone to determine whether Johnson violated the MPs code of conduct.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “We do not comment on speculation.”

They also underlined the terms of reference of Geidt’s investigation, according to which the advice given by Geidt to Johnson “will be released in due course.”

When asked previously if Johnson had lied to Geidt, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson replied: “No”.