Ousted Boris Johnson can take lavish furnishings with him from the Downing Street flat - including his gold wallpaper, it emerged today.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman confirmed anything the PM paid for himself in a luxury refurbishment in 2020 could be taken with him.
It’s understood that even includes the £840-a-roll wallpaper sold by designer Lulu Lytle - though it was not immediately clear if he could scrape it off in one piece.
Only things that were paid for by a £28,647 Cabinet Office grant must stay. They included painting and sanding of floorboards.
The other £112,000 in the makeover was originally paid for by a Tory donor but reimbursed by Boris Johnson after a furore.
Revamping the flat above 11 Downing Street - used by PMs as it’s nicer than the two-bed residence above No10 - was said to include a £9,800 Baby Bear sofa and a £3,000 Lily Drum table.
The furniture exodus appeared to have started today.
Two big removal trucks - one of which was from the same firm as when the PM moved in - were spotted parked nose-to-tail outside Downing Street.
That is despite the couple only putting their £1.6m south London townhouse up for sale a few days ago. Reports today suggest they are still seeking a £3m home in leafy Dulwich.
Mr Johnson set his out-of-office - metaphorically, at least - over the weekend as he jetted to Greece for his second holiday in two weeks.
The lame duck PM - who last month vowed to "carry on" his "duty" as PM - was seen with wife Carrie shopping for food and wine.
Ally Brandon Lewis denied the PM had “thrown in the towel”, telling LBC: "Even when you are not in the office in Downing Street you are working."
But the PM’s spokesman said firmly “he’s on leave this week” and would only be making urgent decisions, such as on national security issues.
He confirmed the PM would not be working on his red box and day-to-day work, adding: “He will be contactable, any urgent decisions to be made he will obviously be involved and lead that, but he is on leave.”
Asked why the PM was taking two holidays, rather than waiting until after he is ousted on September 6, the spokesman replied: “I don’t have anything for you on that.”
He added: “Government activity continues over recent weeks. We’ve made a number of significant announcements and we’ll continue to do so in the coming days”.
Boris Johnson was subject to months of lurid headlines about the refurbishment of the No10 flat.
A probe found he originally assumed a charitable trust, led by Tory donor Lord Brownlow, would fund the work.
But no such trust existed, and the idea then fell through due to legal concerns. So Lord Brownlow coughed up £112,549,42 himself.
After a media storm, the PM later "settled the full amount himself” - effectively paying back Lord Brownlow and the Conservative Party, who’d handled some of the money.
It later emerged Boris Johnson sent Lord Brownlow a message begging for cash in November 2020: “I am afraid parts of our flat are still a bit of a tip and am keen to allow Lulu Lytle to get on with it. Can I possibly ask her to get in touch with you for approvals?”
The PM failed to inform his own ethics advisor about the message. Instead he claimed he only knew the source of the money three months later.
Yet the PM escaped sanction after claiming the message was on his old phone, which he had to ditch after it emerged his number had been online for more than a decade.
The Conservative Party was fined £17,800 by the Electoral Commission in December for breaching electoral law over the way the money was recorded.
A £67k loan from Lord Brownlow included £52,801.72 to pay for revamping the flat. But Tory chiefs left that crucial £52,801.72 out of public records.
Questions were asked by a junior staffer in the Tory treasurer’s office. But a senior fundraising officer told them the £52k was for “something else…don’t worry.”
