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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Lizzy Buchan

Boris Johnson given £1m donation by Brexiteer - as his speech payouts hit £1.3m

Boris Johnson has received £1 million from a Brexiteer cryptocurrency investor who previously backed Nigel Farage's party.

The shamed former Prime Minister declared the massive donation to his office from Christopher Harborne in the latest register of MPs' interests.

Mr Johnson also raked in more than £300,000 for two speeches last month, taking his earnings for speaking engagements to a whopping £1.3million since he left Downing Street in September.

He was paid £50,000 by Ireland-based property developers, the Ballymore Group, for a speech in December.

Blockchain firm ParallelChain Lab shelled out £253,880.90 for a speech from the ex-PM in Singapore.

The payout equates to nearly £19,000 per hour.

The Commons record also reveals he accepted a further £20,000 for accommodation from the billionaire Bamford family.

Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie moved out of Downing Street in September after he was ousted by his own MPs (Getty Images)

Billionaire JCB chief Lord Anthony Bamford and his wife Lady Carole Bamford are long-time supporters of Mr Johnson and have been putting up the Johnson family since he was ousted from power.

He declared £10,000 for use of accommodation from the Bamford's, which is believed to relate to a cottage on their 1,500 acre Daylesford Estate in the Cotswolds.

Another £10,000 was also registered for "concessionary use of accommodation", understood to be a £20million London property owned by Lady Bamford.

It is not clear what if any rent Mr Johnson pays for the house. An aide said he did pay some but did not say how much.

The Mirror published exclusive pictures this week showing Mr Johnson leaving the property, which is in Knightsbridge, West London, round the corner from Harrods.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “All of Boris Johnston’s interests including accommodation are properly registered and published in the Register of Members Interests.”

It comes as a Tory peer said it was a "great mistake" for Mr Johnson to be honoured with a portrait at a plush London members club.

Mr Johnson unveiled an oil painting of himself in front of around 100 supporters at the Carlton Club on Tuesday night.

The private members' club in St James's, London, was the original home of the Tories.

But Lord Lexden, who is also the official historian of the Conservatives, used a letter to The Daily Telegraph newspaper to argue that the honour was a mistake.

He wrote: "It is a great mistake to install a portrait of Boris Johnson in the Carlton Club.

"He is the first Tory prime minister ever to have been driven from office by scandal and personal misconduct."

Mr Johnson is facing a Commons probe into whether he misled Parliament over lockdown boozing in Downing Street.

The Commons Privileges Committee is examining whether Mr Johnson deliberately lied to MPs when he said all Covid guidance had been followed after the Mirror's Partygate revelations.

Lord Lexden said that such an investigation was one of "great gravity".

"At the very least, the Carlton should have waited until the publication of the select committee's report," he said.

"Portraits of all Tory prime ministers since the Duke of Wellington, the club's founding father, adorn its walls. In view of the discredit that he brought on the highest political office, Johnson should not have been included among them at this time."

A source said: "Boris did not pay for the portrait or contribute to it financially. It's entirely a matter for the Carlton Club."

Meanwhile, a source close to the ex-PM rubbished reports that he could agree not to challenge Rishi Sunak in exchange for a safe seat.

Allies told the Times that Mr Johnson “will be in a strong position assuming we [the Conservatives] get hammered in May".

“He can go to Rishi and say ‘give me a seat in exchange for good behaviour’”.

But a source told the Mirror: "This story is completely untrue."

A spokesman said: "Boris Johnson is fully supporting the government and is standing in Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the next election.”

Rishi Sunak refused to be drawn on the news that his former boss had received a seven figure donation - or the reports that he could seek to find a truce in exchange for a safer seat.

Speaking on a visit to Scotland, Mr Sunak said: "I'm not aware of the detail of the donation, but in general we have procedures in place to make sure all donations are declared transparently, which I'm sure is the case here, and I think the former prime minister has declared his intention to stand in his current seat in Uxbridge."

It comes as the ex-PM was said to be planning a trip to Ukraine to shore up support for Kyiv.

Mr Johnson developed a close relationship with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky while in office and is believed to consider the support for the country as one of his key legacies.

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