Downing Street flat donor did pitch festival to PM

The Conservative donor who paid £112,000 towards the refurbishment of the prime minister’s flat was invited to share his vision for a “Great Exhibition 2.0”. Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row shared a detailed, 21-page proposal for his £115m festival, which would have been staged at the Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park this month. The event in central London, proposed for this year, was not taken forward despite Brownlow being ushered in for a private meeting with a cabinet minister during lockdown last year. Brownlow pitched the festival while contributing to the cost of a lavish renovation of Boris Johnson’s flat at No 11 Downing Street. The scandal that resulted involved a £52,000 payment made by Lord Brownlow to the Conservative party. He also made direct payments totalling £60,000 to the designer Lulu Lytle. Johnson claimed to have had no communication with him and to know nothing of the payments until told by reporters in February 2021. However, text messages between the two revealed that the PM had, in fact, asked Brownlow to pay the money in November 2020, signing off with the message: “Am on the great exhibition plan. Will revert.” The Times (£)