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 his wife Carrie from luxury interior designer Lulu Lytle include a £3,675 drinks trolley said to be like the one ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev had in Paris and a £2,260 ‘gold » wallpaper that Johnson privately complained about. the wife had bought. Two sofas cost over £15,000. £3,000 was spent on a ‘paint effect’ for the level walkway. and the cheapest item is a £500 kitchen tablecloth. The estimate for building work, which involved sanding the floorboards, painting and decorating and installing new furniture and fittings came to £30,000. Carrie Johnson in her Downing Street flat (Carrie Johnson) The Cabinet Office leak will reopen the long-running row over the Johnsons’ lavish renovation of their flat at 11 Downing Street. The £208,104 estimate was sent to the Cabinet Office in early 2020, which has an annual budget of £30,000 to refurbish the prime minister’s official Downing St flat, in the early stages of work. In fact, the rest of the cost was secretly funded by Lord Brownlow and the Conservative Party until the scandal was revealed and Mr Johnson was asked to pay it out of his own funds. The leaked invoice shows the Johnsons commissioned a £3,675 ‘Nureyev Trolley’ which is said to be ‘inspired by a 1940s French drinks trolley owned by ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev’. Full leaked invoice: (The Independent) (The Independent) (The Independent) They spent £15,120 on two sofas (with another £2,880 on fabric for their upholstery). £11,280 on eight dining chairs. £7,000 on a carpet. £4,200 on a “double wingback chair” £3,800 on an antique hall mirror and £1,000 on a kitchen TV table. The leaked invoice sent by Mrs Lytle’s company Soane Britain appears to suggest the Johnsons ordered a lounge lamp for £6,000 with an extra £2,500 for the light fixture. Despite being known as Wallpapergate, in reality, textiles cost a lot more than wallpaper. From the wallpaper account, the most expensive item was £2,260 for 10 rolls of “Espalier Square design” used in the entrance. Leaked invoice shows the Johnsons ordered a ‘Nureyev trolley’ worth £3,675 (Soane) Espalier Square emerald wallpaper was commissioned at a cost of £2,250 (Soane) Two Aten hurricane lights are listed on the bill, costing £1,775 each (Soane) According to the Soane Britain website, Mrs Lytle “imagines this gives the universal effect of fruit trees to form tunnels and pergolas in a 19th century kitchen garden”. Although described as “emerald and stone linen” in colour, the “Espalier” tapestry can appear gold in a certain light and is said to have inspired Mr Johnson’s dismayed remark that his wife was “spending thousands on gold tapestry”. The bill for wallpaper and curtains came to £21,280, including £3,200 for ’32m red fern sorola’ for dining room curtains. Johnson was then forced to apologize in January for failing to disclose to his former Whitehall ethics adviser, Lord Hyde, messages between himself and Lord Brownlow, who contributed more than £50,000 to the revamp. In his report on the apartment renovation in May 2021, Lord Geidt said Johnson told him he did not know Lord Brownlow had paid the money before media reports earlier that year. However, a separate investigation by the Electoral Commission watchdog found that Mr Johnson had indeed sent a WhatsApp message to Lord Brownlow about the renewal in November 2020. Lord Geidt, who resigned from his post last month, reprimanded the prime minister for not disclosing the texts but did not change his original verdict that Mr Johnson had not breached the ministerial code. In 2021 it emerged that the cost of the refurbishment was covered by the Cabinet Office and re-charged to the Conservative Party. After the scandal was revealed, the money was returned to Tory HQ and Mr Johnson agreed to pick up the bill, although it is unclear where he got the £178,000 needed when the Cabinet paid its share of £30,000. Mr Johnson, Ms Johnson and Ms Lyttle declined to comment.
