Tories pay £2,000 to cling on to ministerial red boxes

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Former Conservative ministers have forked out thousands of pounds to keep their ministerial red boxes as mementos after an election drubbing they fear will leave them out of power for an extended period.

Some Tory politicians have paid their former departments more than £2,000 for the red boxes, which are used by ministers to carry official papers.

“It could be 10 years at least before we get our hands on another one of these,” said one former Tory MP. 

The boxes have been used since at least the 1850s when William Gladstone delivered his first Budget. 

Jonathan Gullis, a former Tory MP and an education minister in Liz Truss’s 49-day administration, said he had bought his red box as a reminder of his time in office and to one day pass on to his children.

“I’ve got it in the house, in the living room on top of one of the drawers,” Gullis said. “It’s a memento and I’m planning to put stuff in there from my time at Westminster, like old photos, letters from Boris Johnson and so on.”

Gullis was one of the last ministers to be officially approved by Queen Elizabeth, who died in 2022 shortly after Truss entered Downing Street. Gullis therefore has a red box embossed with “ER”, giving it some historical resonance.

Boxes with the letters “ER” needed to be replaced after King Charles acceded to the throne.  

Gullis declined to say how much he paid for his red box, but other ministers said the going rate was about £2,000 in most departments. Often the money is given by the department to charity.

Some ex-ministers have bought black official boxes as souvenirs of their time in office. “They aren’t all red,” said one minister.

Others, such as multi-millionaire former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, decided they could live without the souvenir. “I’m too stingy,” Rees-Mogg said.

The boxes have in the past become collector’s items. Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s red box was auctioned for £242,500 by Christie’s in 2015. 

Veterans of previous administrations, Labour and Conservative, have also bought boxes as keepsakes, after security features were removed, with officials reported to have started allowing the sales after a run of boxes went “missing”. 

The Department for Business and Trade reported that two disappeared between 2018 and 2023.