Lewis’s close ties to Johnson resurface amid knighthood nomination and Washington Post turmoil
The publisher of the Washington Post, Will Lewis, is facing fresh scrutiny regarding his independence after leaked files revealed he provided extensive support to Boris Johnson as a secret political adviser during Johnson’s tenure as prime minister.
The files illuminate how the media executive, who at the time was vice-chair of the Associated Press news agency, collaborated behind the scenes with Johnson as his leadership faced multiple scandals.
Lewis’s meetings with Johnson, which took place over a six-month period in 2022, were not publicly disclosed in official transparency records, potentially violating government regulations.
In July 2022, on the eve of Johnson’s announcement that he would resign from office, Lewis spent the day at 10 Downing Street, closely working with Johnson and his advisers.
Lewis reportedly arrived early in the morning, at 7:50 a.m., and participated in at least six meetings throughout the day, including a session with Johnson’s aides to prepare him for prime minister’s questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons.
The meetings, which extended into the evening, seem to have involved gatherings with Johnson’s closest political allies, including several MPs and a senior minister, as the prime minister faced mounting pressure to resign.
Details of the scope of Lewis’s support for Johnson are disclosed in official government records that provide a detailed account of the prime minister’s activities. The records are labelled "official – sensitive."
The records are part of the Boris Files, a collection of documents obtained by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a US non-profit organization that archives data leaks, and reviewed by the Guardian.
According to the files, Lewis spoke or met with the prime minister on at least 11 occasions between February and July 2022. Overall, Lewis seems to have provided Johnson with at least 15 hours of political advice during this period.
The revelation of the meetings raises questions for Lewis about his proximity to political power, and whether his advisory role to a sitting UK prime minister constituted a conflict of interest with his role at AP.
It also highlights Lewis’s relationship with Johnson, who nominated the media executive for a knighthood for "political and public service" after leaving office.
Lewis was editor of the Daily Telegraph in the 2000s when Johnson was a columnist for the paper. Subsequently, Lewis spent a decade at companies controlled by Rupert Murdoch, including the UK-based News Group Newspapers (NGN) during a period when it faced allegations of phone hacking.
His tenure at the Washington Post has been fraught with controversy following recent court allegations that he was involved in efforts by NGN to "actively frustrate" a police inquiry into phone hacking. Lewis and NGN have strongly denied these allegations.
A source close to Lewis said he "has been transparent about his personal relationship" with Johnson.
An AP spokesperson stated its board members oversee AP’s executive leadership and had "no involvement" in its journalism. "Board directors hold a wide range of roles outside of AP," they noted.
A Cabinet Office source stated that it was Johnson’s responsibility "to account for his meetings." The former prime minister did not respond to a request for comment.
Frequent visitor
It was previously reported that Lewis provided informal advice to Johnson. The Guardian reported last year that he allegedly advised Johnson to "clean up" phone data related to the Covid-19 rule-breaking scandal known as Partygate.
Under ministerial rules, Johnson would have been expected to disclose any meetings held with a senior media executive, but Lewis does not appear in public transparency records.
This omission means that the full extent of Lewis’s involvement in shaping Johnson’s response to the ongoing series of scandals that eventually led to his resignation as prime minister was unknown until now.
According to the leaked detailed logs, Lewis was a frequent visitor to Downing Street and Chequers, the prime minister’s official countryside residence, as Johnson unsuccessfully tried to save his leadership in 2022.
Lewis first appears in the logs on 2 February when he joined a call with Johnson and a Conservative political strategist. After four of Johnson’s senior aides resigned the following day, Lewis joined several meetings at Downing Street on 4 February and reportedly spent part of the morning alone with the prime minister.
At the time, Johnson faced calls to resign amid dissent within his own party and a broadening police investigation into lockdown violations.
Although Johnson withstood the pressure for several more months, a fresh scandal in early July led to the resignations of two of his most senior ministers.
The day after, on 6 July, Lewis joined the prime minister’s first meeting of the day along with Ross Kempsell, then a close ally and political fixer to Johnson.
Lewis remained at the prime minister’s side that morning. In the logs, officials recorded that Johnson was "in office with Will Lewis (vice-chair of the Associated Press)" along with two loyal ministers.
Lewis attended further meetings at Downing Street that day as ministers resigned from Johnson’s government en masse. He was also with Johnson in the evening while the prime minister and his advisers attempted to maintain his position.
On 7 July, Lewis joined Johnson’s first meeting of the day again, according to the logs, just hours before the prime minister publicly announced his resignation. Lewis continued to advise Johnson in the following days as the government faced a vote of no confidence.
He returned to Downing Street as Johnson prepared for his final appearance as prime minister in the House of Commons. For an hour on the morning of 20 July, officials noted, Johnson was engaged in "PMQs prep with Ross Kempsell and Will Lewis."
Deputy Editor
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