Downing Street refurbishment controversy

[8] On 23 April 2021, Cummings published a statement on his blog that the plans were "unethical, foolish, possibly illegal" and "almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended".

[11][12] Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said that Johnson should resign if the investigations find he has broken the Ministerial Code over the flat renovations.

[16] During Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir Starmer, the then Leader of the Opposition, also specifically asked "Who initially paid for the redecoration of his Downing Street flat?"

[22][23] Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, wrote to Lord Geidt asking for evidence of the lack of conflict of interest and said that it was "frankly scarcely believable" that Johnson did not know who was funding the refurbishments.

[24][25] In November 2021, it was reported that academic staff at King's College, London, where Lord Geidt held a position as Council chair, wrote an open letter complaining that Lord Geidt had undisclosed or unmanaged conflicts of interest, namely failing to disclose that he had worked for the Sultan of Oman when KCL had "multiple partnerships" with Oman state bodies, and had failed to manage the conflicts in Geidt holding positions at BAE Systems and Schroders when the KCL endowment fund had investments in those companies.

[28][29] The Herald say the commission's report outlines how in March all the money paid by Brownlow and his company had been reimbursed as had payments made by the Conservative Party and Cabinet Office.

Johnson had told Geidt that he did not know who had paid for the refurbishments until the story was reported in the media in February 2021, whereas the Electoral Commission found that he had messaged Lord Brownlow asking for extra funds in November 2020.