Boris Johnson and Evgeny Lebedev: timeline of former UK Prime Minister’s relationship with Russian spy's son

Boris Johnson came under fire for a lot of things during his premiership, so you’d be forgiven for forgetting about the time he put the son of a former KGB agent in the House of Lords.

But a new Channel 4 documentary, Boris, the Lord & the Russian Spy revisits the controversial 2020 episode. The documentary uncovers the real relationship between Johnson and press baron Evgeny Lebedev, and the concerns the British security services harboured about the latter’s place in the House of Lords.  

Channel 4 must not be aware of the phrase ‘don’t kick a man when he’s down’ because this eye-opening documentary comes just two weeks after Johnson stepped down as an MP having been found to have deliberately misled Parliament over Partygate.

The former Prime Minister and current Daily Mail columnist was also a subject of heated debate over his resignation honours list which included many of his former allies.

This latest documentary digs into the relationship between Johnson and the Lebedevs which began when he was Foreign Secretary and continued through to his time as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 

Who is Evgeny Lebedev?

Evgeny Lebedev is a Russian-British businessman, and the son of businessman and former Russian spy Alexander Lebedev. Evgeny is the owner of the London tabloid paper Evening Standard and an investor in online newspaper The Independent.

He was controversially nominated for a peerage by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2020 for services to the media - he now sits as a life peer in the House of Lords, despite concern voiced by the British press that his elevation could pose a national security risk.

As one of 217 life peers, Lebedev can sit in the House of Lords, receives an allowance of £300 for each day that he signs into the House, and has the power to scrutinise and introduce legislation. Though, in December 2022, The Guardian reported that Lebedev had an attendance record in the House of Lords of less than 1%.

Evgeny’s father has an estimated net worth of around £863 million, and was sanctioned by the Canadian government following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Alexander is a Russian oligarch who at one point was among the 40 richest Russians, with an net worth in 2008 of over $3 billion (£2.3 billion). Evgeny’s wealth mostly comes from his father, and he is worth around $300 million (£235 million). 

Alexander was an officer in Soviet-era security agency the KGB and later its successor agency the Foreign Intelligence Service, until 1992. In later life he has been a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reportedly closing down a newspaper for reporting on the president’s affair. Lebedev Sr. later pleaded with the president to end the bloody war with Ukraine, though to no avail.

How did Boris Johnson meet Evgeny Lebedev?

Johnson met Evgeny Lebedev in 2009 when the former was the Mayor of London and the latter had just bought a controlling stake in Evening Standard, a free London paper that went on to support his reelection campaign in 2012.

The pair became friends, Lebedev was welcomed to Johnson’s home for a private dinner in 2016.

After Johnson nominated Evgeny for a life peerage the House of Lords Appointments Commission urged him to reconsider. Additionally, the new Channel 4 documentary exclusively reveals that government aides asked Queen Elizabeth II to block the peerage over concerns of Evgeny’s father’s links to Putin.  

Another revelation made in the documentary is that Johnson attended a party held by Evgeny at the family’s Italian villa when he was Foreign Secretary. The visit came just hours after he attended a Nato summit where Russia’s likely involvement in the Salisbury poisonings was discussed.

At the time that Johnson attended the party, Italy’s intelligence services were monitoring the villa and believed that it was being used for espionage.  

When is Boris, the Lord & the Russian Spy on TV?

The special documentary will air on Channel 4 on Tuesday 27 June at 10pm and will be available to watch on All 4 shortly after it is first broadcast.