Britain’s political spending watchdog will launch a formal investigation into the funding of renovations to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s apartment in Downing Street, as he faces multiple allegations of political sleaze and scandal.
The UK’s Electoral Commission said in a statement Wednesday that there “are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred. We will therefore continue this work as a formal investigation to establish whether this is the case.”
Johnson has been under pressure to explain how he paid for the renovations to his apartment, which British news outlets have reported cost around £200,000 ($280,000). Prime Ministers are given £30,000 ($41,000) of public money a year to renovate the property during their term.
The British leader faced further scrutiny after his former chief aide last week leveled accusations of unethical behavior.
Dominic Cummings, who left his role as Johnson’s former chief adviser late last year after gaining a reputation as the driving force behind the Prime Minister’s Brexit policy and re-election, alleged in a blog post that Johnson planned to have Conservative Party donors pay for the upgrade.
The commission has the authority to issue sanctions — including substantial fines — if any rules are found to have been breached.
Credit: cnn.com
The post Boris Johnson to face investigation into apartment renovation appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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