Just a few weeks after leaving as an MP, Boris Johnson has requested permission to create an outdoor pool at his lavish country estate.
According to the Mirror, the former prime minister paid £3.8 million for his Cotswolds property back in May and has now submitted a planning application to begin construction there.
Mr. Johnson submitted an application to the neighbourhood council last month asking for permission to build an 11m x 4m swimming pool in his new home. A decision is anticipated next month.
The 400-year-old property, set in nearly five acres, boasts nine bedrooms, a walled garden and a tennis court.
In the meantime, the former Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP has been issued with a warning from County Archaeological Services, urging him to monitor for possible finds during the construction process, due to the site’s ‘considerable archaeological interest’.
Mr Johnson’s earnings since leaving Downing Street have been considerable, thanks to speaking engagements, book advances and his newspaper columnist role.
Analysis by Sky News and Tortoise media published in March this year showed that the former PM earned 85% of all the outside pay generated by MPs up to that point.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said at the time that all his interests are properly registered and declared.
This comes just a month since Mr Johnson resigned as an MP, after the Privileges Committee found he had misled the Commons over partygate claims back in December 2021.
The ex-PM chose used public Money to cover the £245,000 bill for his lawyers during the Partygate inquiry.
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said at the time that ministers had ‘utterly failed’ to produce evidence to prove their claim that funding Mr Johnson’s legal defence with taxpayers’ money followed convention.
‘This murky arrangement that has seen the public left to pick up the tab for Boris Johnson’s Partygate legal bills is not only without precedent but without justification,’ Ms Rayner added, calling for Mr Johnson to pay back every penny.
Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat deputy leader, echoed Labour’s criticism when responding to the news that Mr Johnson is planning to build a pool in his lavish country residence.
She said: ‘If Boris Johnson can afford to pay for a swimming pool, surely he could have paid his own legal fees for the Partygate inquiry instead of taxpayers having to stump up the cash.
‘He should finally do the right thing and reimburse these legal costs. It is an outrage that hardworking families’ money was used to defend Johnson’s lies and law-breaking.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced criticism last year when he decided to build a new heated private swimming pool in the grounds of his North Yorkshire home, after it emerged that it used so much energy the local electricity network had to be upgraded.
This came at the same time as his constituents found themselves on the brink of losing their public baths due to soaring energy prices.