Boris Johnson has declared a donation of £1m from a former Brexit Party bankroller to help him carry out his work as a former prime minister.
The huge sum given to the former prime minister’s personal company by the Tory donor and crypto investor signals that he does not intend to leave politics in the near future.
The donor, Christopher Harborne, gave £5m to the Brexit Party in the months leading up to the 2019 general election, more than two-thirds of what the party received in that period, and has also donated to the Conservatives.
The Brexit Party, now known as Reform UK, was established in 2018 and headed by Nigel Farage to pressure the Tories into a hard break from the European Union.
The private limited company established by Mr Johnson does not carry out commercial business and solely functions as a private office to support him as a former prime minister.
According to the parliamentary declarations, Mr Johnson has been continuing to live at a property linked to wealthy Tory donor Lord Bamford.
He declared the “use of accommodation for me and my family from December 2022 to January 2023 at an estimated value of £10,000”, provided by Lord Anthony and Lady Carole Bamford. Lord Banford is a Tory donor and chair ond JCB.
Since leaving office last September, Mr Johnson has declared more than £1m in speaking fees. In December, he recorded around £300,000 for two separate speeches.
Mr Johnson promoted blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrency, in a speech in Singapore on 2 December for which he received £253,880.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson arrives to give a speech at the Carlton Club in St James’s, London on Tuesday
(PA)
He described blockchain enthusiasts as “pioneers“ but also said he supported stronger regulation on cryptocurrencies.
Mr Johnson announced he would leave office last summer after months of scandal culminated in more than 50 members of government resigning their posts to force his hand.
This week has seen revived interest in the Partygate scandal, which dogged Mr Johnson from the end of 2021 onwards, after the former prime minister was alleged to have made a joke about a 13 November 2020 drinks event in Downing Street being “the most unsocially distanced party” in the UK.
The latest register of MP’s financial interests showed that Mr Johnson had received the second-highest sum in donations since the 2019 election at £2.2m.
He sits behind Theresa May, his predecessor as prime minister, who had received £2.8m. Sir Keir Starmer received the most of any opposition politician, with £799,000.
The largest single donation went to Sir Geoffrey Cox, former attorney general, who received £1.8m from Withers LLP, an international law firm.
