A trove of leaked data from Boris Johnson's private office reveals how the former prime minister has been profiting from contacts and influence gained in office, in a possible breach of ethics and lobbying rules. The Boris Files contain emails, letters, invoices, speeches and business contracts, shedding light on the inner workings of a publicly subsidised company Johnson established after leaving Downing Street in September 2022.
The revelations raise questions about whether Johnson has breached 'revolving door' rules governing post-ministerial careers. The cache includes more than 1,800 files, some dating back to his tenure in Downing Street. The Guardian is the only UK media organisation known to have viewed the trove.
Among the disclosures, Johnson lobbied a senior Saudi official to share a pitch with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a firm he co-chairs. He also received more than £200,000 from a hedge fund after meeting Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro, contrary to statements he was not paid. While in office, Johnson appears to have held a secret meeting with Peter Thiel, founder of data firm Palantir, months before it was given a role managing NHS data.
In an apparent breach of Covid pandemic rules, Johnson hosted a dinner for a Tory peer who financed a refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, a day after the second national lockdown came into force. The files also show Johnson has claimed £182,000 in public duty costs allowance (PDCA) payments since leaving government, intended for public duties but allegedly used for commercial activities.
Johnson did not respond to multiple requests for comment but later emailed a statement denying misuse of the subsidy, calling the story 'rubbish' and comparing The Guardian to Pravda. The files were obtained by Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoS), a US non-profit, which said it did not know the provenance of the leak.
