Boris Johnson will be asked to sign off David Ross’s re-appointment as a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery within days, despite the probe into the prime minister’s Mustique holiday “facilitated” by the businessman.

Sky News has learnt that Mr Johnson is likely to be asked to approve what would be Mr Ross’s second term as chairman of the NPG ahead of a potential announcement that sources say could be made next week.

The confirmation would come alongside the Carphone Warehouse co-founder’s departure – after just nine months – as chairman of the Royal Opera House (ROH).

The timing of his reappointment as a trustee of the world’s most prestigious gallery of portraits is awkward for Mr Johnson, whose trip to the Caribbean island in 2019 with his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, is being investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

Mr Ross was originally listed by the prime minister as the donor of the £15,000 holiday, although the businessman’s spokesman has subsequently sought to clarify the issue by saying that he had “facilitated” the trip as a “benefit-in-kind”.

Labour has tried to use the issue, and that of the renovation of Mr Johnson’s Downing Street flat, to wage a new campaign against “Tory sleaze”.

The Conservatives’ showing in last week’s local elections and parliamentary by-election appears, however, to have removed much of the immediate pressure on the prime minister.

One source said Mr Ross’s new term at the NPG was likely to be submitted to the PM for him to sign off as early as Friday, although they acknowledged that the timing remained uncertain.

The two men have known each other for years, with Mr Ross having represented Mr Johnson – the-then London mayor – on the organising committee of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Mr Ross has also been involved in the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as an adviser on the return of audiences to major sporting and cultural events.

Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, is strongly in favour of extending the entrepreneur’s tenure at the NPG and is said to have already given his approval.

“There is a big job to do to stabilise the Gallery coming out of COVID, and the government is keen for him to stay on,” said one Whitehall source.

Sky News revealed last month that Mr Ross, who is also a prominent Tory donor, would step down as chairman of the Royal Opera House just months into his four-year tenure.

That move could also be announced in the coming days.

A prominent arts and education philanthropist who has spent millions of pounds of his own money funding academies across the country, Mr Ross’s re-election as chair of the NPG will technically be a matter for its board of trustees.

However, the prime minister is responsible for formally approving the appointment of all 14 independent trustees to the Gallery’s board.

Current trustees include Chris Grayling, the former transport secretary, the renowned historian and biographer Andrew Roberts, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Leader of the House of Commons.

Mr Ross himself has been a trustee of the NPG since 2006, meaning that if he serves another four-year term as chair, he will have been on the Gallery’s board for almost two decades – an extraordinarily long stint for a public appointment of this nature.

Mr Ross’s brief tenure at the ROH saw him spend almost £13m on the purchase of David Hockney’s portrait of the late Sir David Webster, the institution’s former chief executive.

He immediately loaned the painting back to the ROH to continue hanging there, but plans to move it to the NPG in due course.

Sir Simon Robey, a former chairman of the ROH and now its honorary vice-president, will step in as the Royal Opera House’s interim chair pending the appointment of a long-term replacement.

A spokesman for Mr Ross declined to comment, while the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport also declined to comment.

Downing Street has been contacted for comment.

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