Ministerial perks

Discussion of free accommodation available to senior members of the government crops up every year in my British Politics lessons. The Independent’s Big Question covers it as part of the ongoing debate about MP’s expenses. For students who want to know more, and for teachers who want to be well armed with information, read on.

In reference to the PM and Chancellor, we find out this:

‘The oldest grace and favour home in the country is also the most famous, at 10 Downing Street, which has been the official residence of every Prime Minister in British history. George II offered it in 1735 to Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister, (though he was not using the title at the time). He would not accept it as a personal gift, but agreed that it should be the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is always also Prime Minister. In 1828, the house next door, at No 11, became the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Both buildings have offices on the lower floors and living accommodation at the top. The flat above No 11 is the larger, so when Labour took office in 1997, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown swapped flats to create room for the Blair family.

Why should Gordon Brown have two grace and favour homes?

The former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin once claimed that: “There are three classes that need sanctuary more than any others – birds, wildflowers and prime ministers.” Downing Street could hardly be classed as a sanctuary, when dozens of officials have offices there. Chequers, a Tudor mansion in Buckinghamshire, bequeathed in 1917 by Sir Arthur Lee, is more restful. Historically, it cost the taxpayer little because it really was a place of escape, with only one telephone, and the costs were born by the trust that owns it. Now it is much more expensive. In 2006 alone, it cost the taxpayer more than £1m. Current costs are estimated to be just over £1,700 a day. When he came to office, Gordon Brown announced that he would be the first Prime Minister for more than 80 years not to use Chequers as a regular weekend retreat, but would return to Scotland at weekends, and use Chequers for conferences and other formal business. The rumour is that he has since fallen in love with the old place.

And the Chancellor?

By tradition, the Chancellor also has a country residence, a beautiful 21-room Queen Anne house outside the Buckinghamshire village of Dorney, near Maidenhead. The Dorneywood estate was given to the National Trust by industrialist Lord Courtauld-Thomson in 1947 as a country home for a senior member of the government. Its upkeep is met by the Dorneywood Thomson Endowment Trust Fund but the government pays for official entertainment. Alistair Darling has use of it, as well as 11 Downing Street. He has recently been criticised for receiving funds to maintaining a second home in his Edinburgh constituency, for which he claimed £10,000.’

If you want to find out about other grace and favour homes, see the full article here.

Incidentally, on the subject of MP’s expenses, I read this week that a government minister has briefed journalists that the one off posting of details of expenses claimed over the last five years due this summer may force a number of MPs to resign. This would trigger a series of by-elections, and if these are Labour held seats this will be terrible news for the PM. With unemployment continuing to rise and the stench of scandal still in the noses of voters, surely there is no way the current government can avoid a crushing at the polls?