Boris Johnson under investigation over luxurious Caribbean holiday

Johnson was among a list of MPs under investigation that was kept under wraps during the campaign for the May election but has now been revealed by Kathryn Stone, the independent commissioner.

The commission has the power to suspend MPs and call by-elections, in the most serious of breaches.

She is acting on a complaint submitted by the Labour MP Margaret Hodge, which says parliament’s watchdog must probe who originally paid for the lavish renovations.

Johnson has repeatedly failed to deny that the Conservative Party, or multiple Tory donors, paid out for works that could have cost up to £200,000.

Stone is also investigating who paid for Johnson’s luxury Caribbean holiday on the island of Mustique during Christmas 2019.

At the time, Johnson claimed the £15,000 cost of the villa he stayed in was paid for by David Ross, a Tory party donor and former deputy chairman of Carphone Warehouse, who owns a property on the island.

Ross then denied he had paid for the holiday and said he did not own the villa where Johnson and his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, stayed.

It is the first time a serving prime minister has been investigated by the commissioner, who is responsible for regulating MPs’ conduct and adherence to Parliamentary rules.

Stone is also investigating seven other Conservative MPs – former Cabinet ministers Owen Paterson and Theresa Villiers, plus Adam Holloway, Bob Stewart, Natalie Elphicke, Roger Gale and Jonathan Gullis.