We finally have some answers about who initially paid for the refurbishment of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat, with the release of the long-delayed list of ministers’ interests. What has been published? The standard register for all ministers, delayed since last December. The new independent adviser on ministers’ interests, Sir Christopher Geidt, also published a separate report that tackled the issue of Johnson’s flat. Why are people interested in Johnson’s flat? In part because lavish work was reportedly carried out inspired by the upmarket designs of Lulu Lytle, costing well beyond the £30,000 official yearly allowance. Following newspaper reports about how it was paid for, Downing Street would say only that Johnson had met all the costs, refusing to mention whether others had done so initially. So who did pay initially? There are two initial payments by others cited in the report. One bill was met by the Cabinet Office, which was then reimbursed by the Conservative party in June 2020. Then in October that year, the Conservative peer and party donor David Brownlow settled another invoice. The report does not say how much these were for. Why did this happen? In short – confusion. The report says Johnson wanted the work to be funded from a blind trust into which others would contribute money, but that it turned out to be legally complex and time-consuming to set up. By the time the bills started to arrive, the Covid pandemic was raging and Johnson was, for a period, seriously ill in hospital, so others stepped in. When did Johnson repay the money? On 8 March this year. The delay was because, the report says, neither officials nor Brownlow told Johnson that others had paid for his work, and he had merely assumed that the trust was in place and meeting all the bills. Does Geidt offer any criticism? Yes. He says the whole affair was “not subjected to a scheme of rigorous project management by officials”, which amounted to “a significant failing”. He also had words of personal chastisement for Johnson, saying: “The prime minister – unwisely, in my view – allowed the refurbishment of the apartment at No 11 Downing Street to proceed without more rigorous regard for how this would be funded.” Did Johnson break any rules? The verdict is no. While there was an “interest” accrued, as Brownlow paid for a bill, and was not repaid for almost five months, Lord Geidt said that because he is a Tory peer, with a “strong connection” to the prime minister, any mutual obligations would not have materially changed, and so there was no conflict of interest. As Johnson declared the loans and repaid the money as soon as he was told, Geidt said, he did not break the ministerial code. Is this the end of it? No, not least after the Electoral Commission said last month it had begun a formal investigation into the funding of the work, saying there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect that multiple offences might have been committed. Also, opposition parties will want to highlight the apparent carelessness of a man who sets about flat refurbishment costing a reported £200,000 without any real curiosity as to who is paying the bill, just an assumption that someone will. But it is nonetheless a hurdle cleared for the prime minister.