Today’s fine for the Tories was a minor one. They were being blasted today by the donors watchdog, who found that they had broken the law regarding payments made to Boris Johnson to renovate his Downing Street apartment.
The Electoral Commission fined the Conservatives £17,800 for failing to properly declare almost £68,000 mostly used to pay for the refurbishment of the private quarters used by Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie and their son Wilfred.
The cash came from Huntwood Associates, a firm run by Tory donor Lord Brownlow.
The Electoral Commission found that the Conservative Party failed to ‘fully report’ a donation of £67,801.72, the majority of which was connected to the refurbishment of the 11 Downing Street flat where Boris Johnson lives.
It is likely that the results of this investigation will lead to another probe by Kathryn Stone, Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.
In an investigation by the commission, it was found that the decisions made regarding recording and handling the donation were indicative of’serious failures in party’s compliance system’.
A fine of £17,800 was levied for ‘failing to accurately report a donation and keep a proper accounting record’.
Louise Edwards is the director of regulation for the Electoral Commission. She stated that “The party’s actions and decisions reflected serious failures in its compliance system.
“The Conservative Party, a wealthy political party, employs finance and compliance experts, and has significant amounts of money passing through its accounts. It should therefore have robust systems in place for meeting its reporting requirements.
The Electoral Commission fined the Conservatives £17,800 for failing to properly declare almost £68,000 mostly used to pay for the refurbishment of the private quarters used by Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie and their son Wilfred.
In an investigation by the commission, it was found that the decisions made regarding recording and handling the donation were indicative of’serious failures in party’s compliance system’.
The Daily Mail revealed details of the lavish redecoration of the apartment shared by the PM and his then fiancée in March.
Lulu Lytle, a high-end designer, reportedly incorporated gold wall coverings in the No11 renovation.
However, the source of funding for the project was not listed in either the Commission’s list of political contributions or Mr Johnson’s Commons register.
This led to Labour Party demands for an in-depth investigation of how extravagant work was paid and whether there were any violations.