Thursday, June 01, 2006
Grace and Favour
Now that John Prescott has given up residence of Dorneywood attention will inevitably shift to the question of which Minister will use it instead. According to Wikipedia, the Prime Minister alone decides which Minister or Secretary of State is to occupy the house. In previous administrations it has been the residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Various former Prime Ministers (before achieving the premiership) have occupied the house, among them Anthony Eden; he and his wife had disliked the house. However, on becoming Prime Minister, Alec Douglas-Home was reluctant to forsake the more comfortable and modern Dorneywood for the antique splendours of Chequers. Another, James Callaghan as Foreign Secretary, also had the use of Dorneywood (later Chevening was to become the official country home for the holder of that office). The last person to have lived at the house before becoming Prime Minister was John Major.
Margaret Beckett has been denied access to Chevening due to its continued occupation by Jack Straw. Instead she has been offered a flat at Admiralty House. That croquet lawn must look very tempting to seasoned caravanners such as her husband and her.
Of course given the tradition of the house being used as the residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown may well fancy having the it himself to use as a bolthole to get away from the Blairs. He may not be so comfortable however, with the idea of the long lens of the paparazzi intruding on his time there.
And there is the problem. John Prescott enjoyed using Dorneywood because it got him away from the pressures of constant press intrusion. He felt able to relax there. Having been caught on film playing the 'game of toffs' on the property's lawns he knows that there will be no peace for him or his successors in this house ever again. Any cabinet member taking up residency there will want some assurances on security before doing so.
Various former Prime Ministers (before achieving the premiership) have occupied the house, among them Anthony Eden; he and his wife had disliked the house. However, on becoming Prime Minister, Alec Douglas-Home was reluctant to forsake the more comfortable and modern Dorneywood for the antique splendours of Chequers. Another, James Callaghan as Foreign Secretary, also had the use of Dorneywood (later Chevening was to become the official country home for the holder of that office). The last person to have lived at the house before becoming Prime Minister was John Major.
Margaret Beckett has been denied access to Chevening due to its continued occupation by Jack Straw. Instead she has been offered a flat at Admiralty House. That croquet lawn must look very tempting to seasoned caravanners such as her husband and her.
Of course given the tradition of the house being used as the residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown may well fancy having the it himself to use as a bolthole to get away from the Blairs. He may not be so comfortable however, with the idea of the long lens of the paparazzi intruding on his time there.
And there is the problem. John Prescott enjoyed using Dorneywood because it got him away from the pressures of constant press intrusion. He felt able to relax there. Having been caught on film playing the 'game of toffs' on the property's lawns he knows that there will be no peace for him or his successors in this house ever again. Any cabinet member taking up residency there will want some assurances on security before doing so.
