Tory donor: Why should I have to pay for Boris’s baby’s a*** to be wiped?’

Concerns about the state of Boris Johnson’s personal finances grew last night amid claims that Tory donors had been asked if they would help the Prime Minister to cover the cost of his childcare.

A senior Conservative source told The Mail on Sunday that one donor had reacted angrily to an approach by responding: ‘Why should I have to pay for his baby’s a*** to be wiped?’

It is among a swirl of fresh allegations about Mr Johnson’s financial arrangements, with suggestions that the Prime Minister had tried to persuade the party’s bankrollers to cover the cost of both a live-in nanny at Downing Street and Mr Johnson’s personal trainer.

Concerns about the state of Boris Johnson’s personal finances grew last night amid claims that Tory donors had been asked if they would help the Prime Minister to cover the cost of his childcare

The flat saga started in 2020, when Mr Johnson grew alarmed by the rising costs of refurbishments to the Downing Street flat at No11, pictured,  that he shares with Ms Symonds

As the bill approached a reported £200,000 for items such as £800 rolls of wallpaper, Mr Johnson was told that the taxpayer-funded allowance for redecorations was capped at £30,000 a year 

No10 did not deny yesterday that donors had been approached – but insisted that Mr Johnson had ‘personally paid’ for both members of staff.

A No.10 source declined to be drawn on claims that friend of Carrie Symonds had covered the cost of the Prime Minister’s nanny and personal trainer, before being repaid by Mr Johnson.

The source added: ‘The Prime Minister has covered the cost of all childcare.’

The flat saga started in 2020, when Mr Johnson grew alarmed by the rising costs of refurbishments to the Downing Street flat at No11 that he shares with Ms Symonds.

As the bill approached a reported £200,000 for items such as £800 rolls of wallpaper, Mr Johnson was told that the taxpayer-funded allowance for redecorations was capped at £30,000 a year.

No10 denies that the total cost of the work was close to £200,000.

When he asked his aides whether a Tory donor could cover the difference, Mr Johnson is understood to have been warned by Dominic Cummings that it was potentially illegal and he should take out a commercial loan. Tory chairman Ben Elliot is reported to have said it would be ‘madness’.

Members of Mr Johnson’s former inner circle are blaming Lord Lister, the Prime Minister’s outgoing adviser, for allowing the approaches to donors despite the objections. At the time, Mr Johnson was telling friends that he was ‘broke’ because of his expensive divorce from his second wife, Marina, and the pay cut he took to become Prime Minister.

He is reported to have told friends that he needs to earn about £300,000 a year – twice his salary – to stay solvent.

But another source claims that Mr Johnson was ‘exaggerating his poverty to stop Marina coming after him for any more’.

Sources say that Mr Johnson has belatedly taken out the commercial loan recommended by Mr Cummings to cover the costs.