Boris Johnson’s ‘humiliating’ text begging for money to revamp flat

Danny Jones

Boris Johnson's text to Lord Brownlow revealed

‘Lulu Lytle’ significantly ups the level of Thick of It parody here

In yet another leaked message via WhatsApp, Prime Minister Boris Johnson‘s text to Lord Brownlow, the man responsible for funding his expensive Downing Street flat refurb, has been revealed.

The texts were published on Thursday evening and have since been shared widely on social media; they seemingly involve an exchange between the PM and Lord Brownlow, a life peer, and Tory donor who operated as vice-chairman of the party.

The conversation starts with Johnson complaining that some parts of his No. 11 Downing Street flat “are still a bit of a tip” before asking Brownlow to contact exclusive designer, Lulu Lytle.

Boris Johnson’s full text to a Tory donor asking for more £££ to refurbish his private flat

Boris Johnson again cleared by Lord Geidt because there is no evidence the PM knew the proposed Lord Brownlow-chaired trust was funded by Lord Brownlow himself pic.twitter.com/F1lIW2CHIQ

— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) January 6, 2022

As it continues, Brownlow responds to Boris Johnson’s text by apologising for not having his “‘work'” phone on him before saying, “we’ll get it sorted ASAP!”. He then goes on to reassure the PM that while “the Trust isn’t set up yet […] approval is a doddle as it’s only me and I know where the £ will come from”.

For context, Lytle – whose chosen wallpaper alone sells for cost over £800 a roll – has insisted she “hated every minute” of the refurb.

The pair also reference the Great Exhibition plan which was essentially a Victorian “crystal palace” designed by Prince Albert that displayed over 100,000 fine objects which Brownlow would like to revive.

At the time, the likes of Liz Truss (then in charge of Brexit negotiations) claimed that Johnson paid for the flat himself and despite investigation at the time, the PM himself had final say over its findings.

His spokesperson claimed that as the “ultimate arbiter” of ministerial code there was no one better to deem whether it had been broken. While Johnson is thought to have paid the added costs himself, these text messages from November 2020 not only purport that he asked for money to foot the bill but that he allegedly misled the Electoral Commission who investigated it at the time.

This is, of course, not the first time that Boris Johnson’s text messages have been revealed. Back in June, former aide Dominic Cummings revealed an explicit message he had sent regarding then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock and it is also believed that Johnson’s number had been online for 15 years.

Johnson is now thought to have apologised to Christopher Geidt – the man who conducted the probe – for the undeclared message, with the lord stating that while it was unwise, the PM did not “deliberately mislead”. Others are less convinced.