Billionaire brothers give Boris Johnson offices worth £85,000
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Boris Johnson has been given £85,000 worth of office space by billionaire Tory donors.
The latest update to the MPs’ Register of Interests shows the former prime minister has been given the use of office space by Investors in Private Capital Ltd, a company that donated more than £200,000 to the Conservative Party over the course of his premiership.
The entry states the office space is worth £7,110 per month, and has been given to Mr Johnson for a year starting from the day after he left Downing Street.
Companies House records show that on October 10 he incorporated The Office of Boris Johnson Ltd, based at an address near Liverpool Street Station.
As a former prime minister, Mr Johnson is entitled to claim up to £115,000 per year to run his private office.
Investors in Private Capital is ultimately owned by Omaha Business Holdings Corporation, which is based in the British Virgin Islands.
Omaha is in turn owned by billionaire property owners David and Simon Reuben. The brothers, reported to be worth £16 billion, own property across London including Millbank Tower and Admiralty Arch, which separates Trafalgar Square and the Mall.
Through Investors in Private Capital, the brothers have donated almost £1 million to the Conservative Party since 2008, including a donation of £25,000 to Mr Johnson’s constituency party shortly before his return to Parliament in 2015.
They were also significant backers of Mr Johnson’s friend, Zac Goldsmith, donating thousands to the former MP and London mayoral candidate.
Mr Johnson’s update to the register of interests also shows JCB chairman Lord Bamford and his wife gave the former prime minister and his family additional accommodation between September 16 and October 15.
The couple had already given Mr Johnson concessionary use of some accommodation worth £10,000, but his use of the additional property was worth only £3,500.
The update also shows he was given use of the Windsor Suite at Heathrow Airport for three adults and two children on September 22 and 26, worth £1,800 each time.
The Windsor Suite is a VIP lounge at Heathrow and has been used by royals including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It is also frequently used by prime ministers and former prime ministers before and after overseas holidays.
