Boris Johnson has been issued with a county court judgement for an unpaid debt
- Boris Johnson has been issued with a county court judgement for failing to pay a debt.
- Court records show he was issued with the judgment for a debt of £535.
- Johnson’s personal finances have been the subject of scrutiny in recent months.
- The UK Prime Minister reportedly used a donation from an undeclared source to pay for the renovation of his flat.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Boris Johnson has been issued with a county court judgement for an unpaid debt.
The judgement, revealed by the Private Eye magazine on Wednesday and seen by Insider, shows that the judgement against the UK Prime Minister came last October after failed to pay the debt of £535.
Despite the debt being issued more than six months ago, it is rated as an “unsatisfied record,” suggesting that it has yet to be paid off by the prime minister.
Johnson’s Downing Street residence is listed on the court judgement.
It is not clear what the debt relates to, but such judgements are issued when a person or organisation takes action against someone claiming they owe them money and the person does not respond.
The judgement poses awkward questions for the prime minister, whose private financial arrangements have been under significant scrutiny in recent months.
The government’s own website for county court judgements for debt advises: “Records of judgments are kept for 6 years unless you pay the full amount within a month — this can make it hard to get credit.”
“If you do owe the money, you should arrange to pay what you can afford.”
Johnson has reportedly told friends since arriving in Downing Street that his prime ministerial salary of around £160,000 is not enough to sustain his expensive lifestyle.
He recently settled a costly divorce with his ex-wife Marina Wheeler and is understood to support at least four of his children financially.
The UK’s parliamentary watchdog this week announced this week that it was investigating Johnson for a holiday he took to the Caribbean island of Mustique in December 2019 and January 2020, amid confusion over who footed the bill for the £15,000 trip.
He was also the subject of extensive media scrutiny after questions arose over who funded a lavish refurbishment of the Downing Street flat where he lives with his fiancée Carrie Symonds.
Johnson ultimately paid the excess cost of the refurbishment himself, but his former chief aide Dominic Cummings claimed the prime minister had initially sought for a donor to cover the costs.
The Electoral Commission, the UK’s elections watchdog, is investigating whether the refurbishment broke the law after concluding that there were “reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred.”
Downing Street also refused to deny that he had asked a Conservative donor to pay for his son’s childcare.
A spokesperson for Johnson was contacted for comment.
Our Brexit Insider Facebook group is the best place for up-to-date news and analysis about Britain’s departure from the EU, direct from Business Insider’s political reporters. Join here.
Source: Read Full Article