David Cameron made a surprise return to politics as part of Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle on Monday 13 November. This came after Suella Braverman wrote an unauthorised letter in which she criticised the police and accused them of bias when it comes to protesters. Braverman was then sacked as Home Secretary and has since written an open letter in which she slates Sunak. This has attracted a lot of media attention, and a political expert has suggested that Braverman had ulterior motives behind the scathing text.
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Cameron, who was himself PM for 6 years, has now taken on the role of Foreign Secretary as his predecessor James Cleverly has replaced Braverman as Home Secretary. But where will the former PM live?
He has a selection of properties to choose from, but there is some speculation that he will return to the £17 million Holland Park townhouse that his family lived in after Cameron resigned as Prime Minister.
The £17 million London townhouse
When David Cameron was PM he gambled on an EU referendum that saw the UK vote to exit the EU. The day after the result was announced, he resigned. The leave result was a massive blow to Cameron, who had spent a lot of time campaigning against Brexit, claiming it would result in ‘economic self-harm’ for the UK.
After he left Downing Street, Cameron took his wife and 3 children to live in a very expensive townhouse in London. Now, there is some speculation that the new Foreign Secretary may return to this address after seven years out of office.
The property was actually bought in 2014 for £16.5 million by the Camerons’ close friends, PR mogul Sir Alan Parker and his wife Lady Jane Hermione Parker, according to the Evening Standard. And while it is not known whether the Camerons ever owned the place themselves, the beautiful three-storey home served as a ‘pit-stop’ for the Camerons until the Cameron children could finish the school year.
They couldn’t stay in their own Notting Hill property because it was being rented out. Still, the Holland Park house has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and three reception rooms, and is situated in a very desirable neighbourhood - it probably makes for a very comfortable stay.
‘Millionaire's Row’ neighbourhood
The house has one of the UK’s most expensive postcodes, nicknamed ‘Millionaire's Row’. According to Hello! Magazine:
The likes of David and Victoria Beckham, Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Led Zeppelin are known to have properties in the star-studded enclave, which boasts leafy tree-lined streets and multi-storey homes enclosed behind wrought-iron gates.
When the Cameron family moved in back in 2016, neighbours were generally welcoming, but one woman told the Standard:
I like David Cameron but I’m not sure I want him living on my street.
There could be added security risks and I certainly don’t want armed policemen stationed out there all day and night with my children around.
Time will tell whether Cameron decides to move his family back to this property, to his Notting Hill home or - and it is entirely possible - to just add to his portfolio and buy a nice new place to mark his fresh start back in politics.
Read more:
⋙ Suella Braverman was named after a TV series Dallas: 'My name is actually...'
⋙ Rishi Sunak: The Prime Minister makes another ‘out of touch’ remark
Sources used:
Hello! Magazine: David and Samantha Cameron to return to £17 million West London townhouse that neighboured the Beckhams?
The Evening Standard: Revealed: the £17m Holland Park townhouse where David Cameron and his family now live
