The full extent of the infamous Wallpapergate scandal, seen by some as a harbinger of the beginning of Boris Johnson’s downfall, has been revealed.
The Independent has obtained a leaked copy of the invoice for the renovation of the Prime Minister’s Downing Street flat, which shows it cost more than £200,000.
Items commissioned by Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie from luxury interior designer Lulu Little include a £3,675 drinks trolley said to be like one owned in Paris by ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, and ‘golden’ £2,260 worth of wallpaper, which Mr Johnson personally complained about. the wife had bought.
Two sofas cost more than £15,000; £3,000 was spent on a ‘paint effect’ for the flat corridor; and the cheapest item is a £500 kitchen table cover.
The estimate for building work, which includes sanding the floorboards, painting and decorating and installing new furniture and fittings, is £30,000.
Carrie Johnson in the Downing Street flat
(Carrie Johnson)
The Cabinet Office leak will reopen the long-running row over the luxury renovation of the Johnsons’ flat at 11 Downing Street.
The £208,104 estimate was sent to the Cabinet in early 2020, which has an annual budget of £30,000 to refurbish the prime minister’s official Downing St suite in the early stages of work.
In fact, the rest of the cost was secretly funded by Lord Brownlow and the Conservative Party until the scandal was exposed and Mr Johnson was told to pay for it out of his own money.
The leaked bill shows the Johnsons ordered a £3,675 Nureyev Cart, which is said to be “inspired by a 1940s French drinks cart owned by ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev”.
The entire expired invoice:
(The Independent)
(The Independent)
(The Independent)
They spent £15,120 on two sofas (with a further £2,880 on fabric to upholster them); £11,280 for eight dining chairs; £7,000 per carpet; £4,200 for a ‘double back chair’; £3,800 for an antique hall mirror and £1,000 for a kitchen TV table.
A leaked invoice sent by the Soane Britain company to Ms Little appears to suggest the Johnsons ordered a sitting room lamp for £6,000 with an extra £2,500 for the lampshade.
Although known as Wallpapergate, fabrics actually cost a lot more than curtains.
Of the wallpaper bill, the single most expensive item was £2,260 for 10 rolls of ‘Espalier Square design’ used in the entrance hall.
The leaked banknote shows that the Johnsons ordered a Nureyev Trolley for £3,675
(soane)
The Espalier Square emerald wallpaper was commissioned at £2,250
(soane)
The bill listed two Aten hurricane lights costing £1,775 each
(soane)
According to the Soane Britain website, Ms Lytle “imagines this to give the overarching effect of fruit trees forming tunnels and trellises in a 19th-century kitchen garden”.
Although described as ’emerald and stone linen’ in colour, the ‘Espalier’ wallpaper can appear gold in certain light and is said to have inspired Mr Johnson’s disappointed remark that his wife ‘spends thousands on gold wallpaper’ .
The bill for upholstery and curtains came to £21,280, including £3,200 for ’32 million red fern sorrel’ for dining room curtains.
Mr Johnson was then forced to apologize in January for failing to disclose to his former Whitehall ethics adviser Lord Gaidt the communications between him and Lord Brownlow, who contributed more than £50,000 to the flat’s makeover.
In his report on the apartment renovation in May 2021, Lord Hyde said Johnson told him he had not known Lord Brownlow had paid the money before media reports earlier that year.
However, a separate investigation by the Electoral Commission’s watchdog found that Mr Johnson had in fact sent a WhatsApp message to Lord Brownlow about the November 2020 renewal.
Lord Hyde, who resigned from his post last month, reprimanded the prime minister for not disclosing the texts but did not change his original ruling that Mr Johnson had not breached the ministerial code.
In 2021, it emerged that the cost of the refurbishment had been borne by the Cabinet and passed on to the Conservative Party. After the scandal was revealed, the money was returned to Tory HQ and Mr Johnson agreed to pick up the bill, although it is not clear where he got the £178,000 needed after the Cabinet paid its share of £30,000.
Mr. Johnson, Ms. Johnson and Ms. Little declined to comment.
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