Boris Johnson: Investigation into flat refurbishment money

You may have heard lots of people talking about Boris Johnson recently.

The prime minister is being asked lots of questions about the flat he currently lives in with his fiancée Carrie Symonds.

Mr Johnson receives a yearly public grant - which is a large sum of money provided to be used for a specific purpose - of £30,000 to spend on redecorating the flat.

However, reports from newspapers suggested that he could have spent up to £200,000 renovating the flat using money from donors, something which isn't allowed if not declared.

The prime minister works at 10 Downing Street, but lives in a flat above (number 11) with his fiancée Carrie Symonds

The Electoral Commission, which is the organisation that oversees what happens with political donations in the UK, has said it has launched a formal investigation into how Boris Johnson's Downing Street flat renovation was funded.

The body says it has been in contact with the Conservative Party since March over the refurbishment, but it has now confirmed it has "reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred".

Mr Johnson has denied the accusations that he received money from donors to help him redecorate his flat. Last week, the government said that "costs of wider refurbishment in this year have been met by the prime minister personally".

Where have the accusations come from?

Mr Cummings is the prime minister's former chief adviser

The allegations around the prime minister's flat first came to light on Friday 23 April after Dominic Cummings, who used to be Boris Johnson's chief adviser, shared a post on his personal blog.

You may remember hearing about Mr Cummings as he was accused of breaking lockdown rules last year. He travelled 260 miles to his parents' home in Country Durham at the end of March 2020. He also travelled to Barnard Castle in Teesdale.

Mr Cummings left his job at Downing Street at the end of last year after being in the role since July 2019. He and the prime minister worked really closely together, but he was forced to leave following an internal power struggle.

If you've ever had a falling out with one your friends who knows a lot about you, this situation may feel familiar. Since Mr Cummings left his job at Downing Street, he has written about his views on the flat.

What did the blog post say?

Last year, Mr Cummings was accused of making illegal journeys during lockdown. At the time he said: "I think what I did was actually reasonable in these circumstances."

In his blog post, Mr Cummings said the prime minister had once planned to have donors "secretly pay" for the work on his flat which he described as "unethical", "foolish" and "possibly illegal". He also said this "almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended".

The government has since responded to his claims, saying that the proper laws and rules were followed, and that the right advice was taken about how to handle the matter. It also said that all donations were reported in the right way.

What else has Boris Johnson been accused of doing?

Boris Johnson was alleged to have made inappropriate remarks about the coronavirus pandemic

Mr Johnson has also being accused of making inappropriate comments about lockdown.

This information was shared with the BBC by sources that say they had knowledge of the conservations that took place.

The remarks are said to have been made last autumn and some people have criticised the prime minister, saying the comments are insensitive in nature and show a lack of care for people impacted by the pandemic.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was "astonished" by the reports and the party's shadow Cabinet Officer Rachel Reeves urged Mr Johnson to apologise.

Mr Johnson has said he didn't make the comments.

What is happening now?

The prime minister held a meeting with senior politicians in the government, called the cabinet, on Tuesday.

Politicians close to the Prime Minister have said that the public wants the government to focus on fighting the pandemic, and not be distracted by what happened with the Downing Street flat.

But the Labour Party has accused Mr Johnson of lying about who paid for the renovations, and say they want a full explanation from the Prime Minister about what happened.