A vast trove of leaked computer files has exposed the inner workings of Boris Johnson’s life after Downing Street, revealing a tangled web of lucrative business ventures, controversial lobbying, and lingering questions about the ethical boundaries of former prime ministers. The files, obtained by Straight Arrow News and reported by several outlets including The Guardian, offer an unprecedented look into how Johnson has navigated the world stage since his turbulent tenure as the United Kingdom’s leader ended in 2022.
The more than 2,000 documents, sourced from the nonprofit leak archiver Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets), range from emails and handwritten notes to travel itineraries and confidential financial records. The leak, which cybersecurity experts have described as a “devastating compromise,” includes not only sensitive personal information—such as Johnson’s passport details and social media passwords—but also evidence of activities that may have breached government rules meant to prevent conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds.
According to Straight Arrow News, the files span Johnson’s time as prime minister from 2019 to 2022 and extend well into his post-office career. They paint a vivid portrait of a man whose day-to-day schedule included everything from “Security briefing: Nuclear” to high-stakes calls with world leaders. One diary entry from July 2019 simply reads, “Telephone call with the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump.” Another notebook entry dated March 19, 2020, reflects on the pandemic’s toll: “Some very difficult rationing decisions” would be required, Johnson wrote, as the UK’s medical system strained under COVID-19.
But it’s what Johnson did after leaving Number 10 that has drawn the fiercest scrutiny. The files reveal that he established the Office of Boris Johnson—a publicly subsidized company—to manage a flurry of highly paid speaking engagements and business deals. Between October 2022 and May 2024, Johnson reportedly earned around £5.1 million for 34 speeches, with single engagements fetching hundreds of thousands of pounds and expenses covering first-class flights and five-star hotels for himself and his staff. One invoice shows he charged $350,000 for a 2024 speech to Masdar, a clean energy company in the United Arab Emirates, pocketing $94,459.08 after deductions.
According to The Guardian, the so-called “Boris Files” contain emails and contracts that suggest Johnson lobbied a senior Saudi official he had met while in office, asking him to share a business pitch with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on behalf of a firm he co-chairs. The files also indicate that Johnson received more than £200,000 from a hedge fund after meeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro—contradicting earlier statements that he was not paid for the encounter. In another eyebrow-raising revelation, Johnson allegedly held a secret meeting with billionaire Peter Thiel, founder of the controversial US data firm Palantir, months before the company was awarded a role managing NHS data. And, in what appears to be a breach of COVID-19 lockdown rules, he hosted a dinner for a Tory peer who financed his Downing Street flat refurbishment just a day after the second national lockdown began.
These revelations have reignited debate over the so-called “revolving door” between government and private industry. UK rules prohibit former ministers from lobbying contacts made in office on behalf of commercial interests, and Johnson was reminded of these restrictions on the day he stepped down. Yet the files suggest he may have blurred—or even crossed—these lines, prompting calls for a full investigation.
One area of particular concern is Johnson’s use of the taxpayer-funded Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), which provides up to £115,000 a year to former prime ministers for office and secretarial costs related to public duties—not for private or commercial purposes. Official data shows Johnson has claimed £182,000 in PDCA payments since leaving government. The files raise questions about whether the Office of Boris Johnson, set up a month after his resignation, has mixed public subsidy with private business, as the same staff and infrastructure appear to have supported both roles.
Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Sarah Olney MP was blunt in her assessment: “These allegations are extremely shocking. This is yet another reminder of how deep the rot in the Conservative Party goes—it is riddled by sleaze and scandal. The government must suspend Boris Johnson’s access to the former prime minister public duty cost allowance pending a full and proper investigation.”
Johnson, for his part, has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement emailed to The Guardian after publication, he insisted, “This story is rubbish. The PDCA has been used entirely in accordance with the rules. The Guardian should change its name to Pravda.” Nevertheless, the mounting evidence has put pressure on the government to clarify how the allowance is monitored and whether new safeguards are needed to prevent abuse.
Security is another thread running through the files. A travel folder reveals the extent of the leak’s intrusiveness, containing photos of Johnson’s passport, driver’s license, and visas for countries including Australia, Canada, Kurdistan, Saudi Arabia, and the US. Itineraries for trips to Israel and Egypt detail private security arrangements, while another document includes COVID-19 vaccination records for Johnson and his entourage. Usernames, passwords, and contact details for Johnson’s social media accounts were also exposed in a file marked “confidential.”
The leak’s origins remain murky. DDoSecrets, the US-based nonprofit that published the files, says it does not know who was behind the hack, but cybersecurity experts have warned that world leaders are frequent targets for both criminal and nation-state hackers. In 2020, for example, researchers at Citizen Lab found that multiple phones at Johnson’s office had been compromised by Pegasus spyware, which they linked to the United Arab Emirates—though both the UAE and the spyware’s manufacturer denied involvement. Rob Pritchard, founder of The Cyber Security Expert, told Straight Arrow News that the breach could well be part of an influence operation by a foreign adversary. “Ex-prime ministers will undoubtedly still be very high-priority targets for a range of countries, and their private office will hold sensitive information, if not actually classified information in the strict sense,” Pritchard said.
The files also document Johnson’s continued involvement in high-level security matters even after leaving office. An email from June 10, 2024, shows the UK National Security Secretariat attempting to schedule a sensitive in-person meeting with Johnson nearly two years after his resignation. The subject of the meeting remains unclear. In another section, a UK Defense Intelligence document from December 2022 details the status of a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, marked as sensitive and restricted to international partners in the EU, NATO, Australia, and New Zealand.
Perhaps the most chilling entry is a note from February 2022 describing a phone call between Johnson and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Johnson recounts Putin’s use of profanity and a blunt threat: “I don’t want to hurt you Boris but it would only take one missile.” The Kremlin later dismissed this claim as a “lie,” but the episode underscores the gravity of the material now circulating on the open internet.
As the dust settles, the revelations from the Boris Files are likely to reverberate through Westminster and beyond. They raise uncomfortable questions about the safeguards in place for former leaders, the ethics of post-government careers, and the persistent vulnerabilities of even the most powerful offices. For Boris Johnson, the public reckoning over his legacy is far from over.
