The full extent of the notorious Wallpapergate scandal seen by some as heralding the start of Boris Johnson’s downfall has been laid bare.
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 ordered by Mr Johnson and wife Carrie from upmarket interior designer Lulu Lytle include a £3,675 drinks trolley said to be like the one owned in Paris by ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev and £2,260 worth of the “gold” wallpaper that Mr Johnson privately complained his wife had purchased.
Two sofas cost more than £15,000; £3,000 was spent on a “paint effect” for the flat hallway; and the cheapest item is a £500 kitchen table cloth.
The estimate for building works, which involved sanding the floorboards, painting and decorating, and installing new furnishings and fittings came to £30,000.
The leak from the Cabinet Office will reopen the long-running controversy over the Johnsons’ luxury refurbishment of their flat over at 11 Downing Street.
The £208,104 estimate was sent to the Cabinet Office in early 2020, which has a £30,000 annual budget to renovate the PM’s official Downing St flat, in the early stages of the work.
In fact, the rest of the cost was secretly funded by Lord Brownlow and the Conservative Party until the scandal was uncovered and Mr Johnson was told to pay it from his own funds.
