Boris Johnson's Partygate defence cost taxpayer £265,000 in legal fees

21 July 2023 , 09:00

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Boris Johnson quit Parliament in a rage after the Privileges Committee found he'd lied to MPs about Partygate (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Boris Johnson's Partygate legal fees cost the taxpayer more than £265,000, according to Government figures slipped out before the summer recess.

The shamed former Prime Minister's legal costs were met by the public during the Commons Privileges Committee probe, which delivered a damning verdict on his denials about lockdown boozing in Downing Street.

Mr Johnson would have faced a 90-day suspension from Parliament if he hadn't quit in fury after the Privileges Committee found he had misled the Commons in five ways over Partygate and committed multiple contempts of Parliament.

He repeatedly insisted that no rules were broken in Downing Street during the pandemic after the Mirror first exposed the scandal. This was despite the Metropolitan Police's decision to issue 126 fines for Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street and Whitehall, including to Mr Johnson himself.

Figures published by the Cabinet Office on Thursday showed that the ex-PM's final legal costs totalled £265,522.

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Privileges Committee chairman Harriet Harman led the probe into Boris Johnson's Partygate lies (PA)

Solicitors firm Peters & Peters was awarded a contract worth £129,700 in August 2022 to provide Mr Johnson with advice during the investigation, although later Cabinet Office estimates had put the costs as at least £222,000.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said: "At the height of a cost-of-living crisis, Rishi Sunak has stood by and watched as the disgraced former prime minister milks the taxpayer to the tune of a quarter of a million pounds to prop up his Partygate denials.

"This is a spineless Prime Minister, too weak to put a stop to this unprecedented and unacceptable waste of taxpayers' money or force his predecessor to hand back taxpayers' money."

A Government spokesman said: "There is an established precedent across multiple administrations based on the principle that former ministers may be supported with legal representation after they have left office when matters relate to their time and conduct as a minister.

"The contract for the provision of legal support to the now former prime minister has been extended for a final time in accordance with the proper procurement processes.

"This is to cover previous additional work in relation to the Privileges Committee inquiry. The contract expires today and the final costs of the total legal support will not exceed this amount."

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Lizzy Buchan