Boris Johnson REFUSES to tell Commons sleaze watchdog how much his Marbella family holiday was worth after being given free trip to plush Costa Del Sol estate by one of his (multi-millionaire) ministers

• Boris and family stayed at £25k-per-night home of Lord Goldsmith in October 
• He revealed yesterday on ministerial interests register that trip provided free
• But separate MPs register entry would need details of how much stay was worth

Boris Johnson is facing more sleaze fury today after refusing to reveal the value of a free family holiday he was given at the lavish Spanish estate of one of his richest ministers.

Downing Street confirmed this morning that the Johnsons’ October stay at the Marbella home of Lord Goldsmith would not be placed on the register of MPs’ financial interests.

They claim that because it was provided by a minister it falls outside the remit of the House of Commons financial probity watchdog. 

The holiday was yesterday revealed on the ministerial register of interests as having provided free of charge by Goldsmith, a former MP and friend of Carrie Johnson who was handed a peerage by Mr Johnson after losing his Commons seat in 2019.

But an entry on the separate MPs register would require revealing how much the benefit in kind was worth.  The Torre Tramores estate, where Mr Johnson, Carrie and their son Wilfred stayed, is available for private rent at a cost of £25,000 per night for a secluded retreat with its own private helipad. 

A No 10 spokesman today said the holiday provided by ‘a longstanding friend’ had been registered correctly.

‘The Prime Minister’s met the transparency requirements in relation to this, he declared this arrangement in his ministerial capacity, given this was hospitality provided by another minister,’ he said.

The Prime Minister quietly revealed in the latest list of ministerial interests that Lord Goldsmith allowed him, Carrie and Wilfred to stay at his £25,000-per-night estate near Marbella without payment.

A No 10 spokesman today said the holiday provided by ‘a longstanding friend’ of the PM had been registered correctly.

Goldsmith is the former MP for Richmond Park – a close friend of the PM’s wife – who was elevated to the peerage by Mr Johnson after losing his seat at the 2019 election.

The move allowed the 46-year-old (pictured at Cop26 this week with the Prince of Wales)  to remain in Government as an environment minister. He is currently Minister for the Pacific and the Environment.

He added that the PM has written to the House of Commons registrar ‘to set out’ the arrangement. He did not clarify when asked whether the registrar had replied to Mr Johnson’s letter, but added: ‘As I say, ministerial code declarations fall outside the remit of the House of Commons registrar and Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.’

Downing Street has justified its decision by pointing to a section in the Code of Conduct for MPs regarding trips abroad which says that among those that do not need to be declared are ‘visits wholly unconnected with membership of the House or with the Member’s parliamentary or political activities (e.g. family holidays)’.  

The spokesman added that the PM’s ministerial standards adviser Lord Geidt had scrutinised the declaration as part of the process. 

Asked why the PM’s Marbella holiday did not need to be declared on the register of members’ interests, the spokesman replied: ‘The ministerial code declarations fall outside the remit of the House of Commons register.’ 

Goldsmith is the former MP for Richmond Park who was elevated to the peerage by Mr Johnson after losing his seat to the Liberal Democrats.

The move allowed the 46-year-old to remain in Government as an environment minister. He is currently Minister for the Pacific and the Environment having been given an additional role in a 2020 reshuffle.

The stay at the Torre Tramores in early October sparked fury as Mr Johnson left the UK amid a gas price crisis that struck businesses. 

In the latest register, released yesterday, a simple paragraph reads: ‘The Prime Minister has a longstanding personal friendship with the Goldsmith family and, in that capacity, in October 2021, stayed in a holiday home in southern Spain which was provided free of charge by the Goldsmiths. 

‘Given Lord Goldsmith is a Minister of the Crown, the arrangement has accordingly been declared.’

In the latest register, released today, a simple paragraph reads: ‘The Prime Minister has a longstanding personal friendship with the Goldsmith family and, in that capacity, in October 2021, stayed in a holiday home in southern Spain which was provided free of charge by the Goldsmiths. ‘Given Lord Goldsmith is a Minister of the Crown, the arrangement has accordingly been declared.’

The position adopted by Mr Johnson comes after he registered his previous controversial holiday with the Commons authorities.

Kathryn Stone, the independent Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards,  castigated the Prime Minister in the summer over a lavish £15,000 Caribbean holiday in 2019 funded by Tory donors.

But he was saved from punishment – which could have included being the first serving premier to be suspended from the Commons, by MPs who overturned her ruling.  

The cross-party Standards Committee found the PM had made an ‘accurate and complete’ declaration about the holiday in December 2019, saying it was a donation from Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross even though the couple did not stay in his villa.

The committee – chaired by Labour MP Chris Bryant – over-ruled Ms Stone after she concluded that Mr Johnson did breach the Code of Conduct for MPs during a 15-month wrangle after initially failing to provide a full explanation, slamming him for ‘not showing the accountability required of those in public life’.

The report also suggested that the premier himself did not know exactly how the jaunt was being funded until after he arrived on Mustique and realised he was not staying in Mr Ross’s own property. 

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