'Would you spend £5,900 on an armchair?' - Nick Ferrari grills Government Minister

27 April 2021, 08:30 | Updated: 27 April 2021, 08:41

Nick Ferrari presses Secretary of State over Boris Johnson's flat

By EJ Ward

This is the moment LBC's Nick Ferrari quizzed the Work and Pensions Secretary over Boris Johnson's "excessive" £58,000 flat redecoration.

It comes after Boris Johnson's claim to have paid for the lavish makeover of his Downing Street flat faced fresh scrutiny last night after it was confirmed Tory HQ paid the £58,000 bill nine months ago.

This led to Nick Ferrari questioning Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey over the issue.

When Nick asked if it was excessive the immediate reply from the politician was that she didn't know the details of what the Prime Minister had spent.

But, Nick did have them to hand and was happy to read out what had been spent.

Read more: Top official to review Boris Johnson's Downing Street flat refurbishment

"It's wallpaper at £840 a roll, it's a Lilly Drum table at £3,000, it's a Baby Bear sofa at £9,800. Shall I go on?"

The Work and Pensions Secretary quickly replied that the PM had "spent more time in the Number 10 flat than Prime Minister's normally would."

"Would you spend £5,900 on an armchair?" Nick questioned Dr Coffey.

But the politician did not choose to answer the question.

Read more: Labour calls for 'full investigation' into PM's Downing Street refurb

Read more: Elections watchdog quizzes Tories over revamp of PM's Downing St flat

Iain Dale's take on the row over the PM's flat refurbishment

ITV on Monday reported that Conservative Campaign Headquarters paid the Cabinet Office to cover initial costs of the refurbishments.

Mr Johnson has now repaid the cost.

Last week, the Daily Mail published details of an email from Tory peer Lord Brownlow in which he said he was making a £58,000 donation to the party "to cover the payments the party has already made on behalf of the soon-to-be-formed 'Downing Street Trust'".

The government is understood to be looking at whether work on any part of the Downing Street estate could be funded by a trust.