How Clegg has hobnobbed with the stars at his Kent mansion funded by taxpayers
- Nick Clegg invited 99 guests to Chevening, Kent, between 2011 and 2012
- The famous guests included Clare Balding and Joanna Lumley
Nick Clegg has invited an array of stars to his grace-and-favour residence for taxpayer-funded dinners, it emerged last night.
Between June 2011 and June last year, the Deputy Prime Minister invited 99 guests to Chevening, the Kent mansion he shares on rotation with Foreign Secretary William Hague.
They included actress and campaigner Joanna Lumley, sports presenter Clare Balding and her partner Alice Arnold.
Life of the party: Nick Clegg invited dozens of famous and influential people to dinners on the taxpayer at his Kent mansion
The list was sneaked out last night by the Cabinet Office, leaving the Government open to concerns that it was trying to bury bad news.
Mr Clegg also dined with Dragon’s Den businessman James Caan, whom he has appointed Lib Dem social mobility czar.
And television journalists were on the guest list, including ITV News political editor Tom Bradby, and former BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders. Justine Roberts, co-founder of the influential Mumsnet website, was also invited alongside her partner Ian Katz, a former Guardian newspaper executive who now edits the BBC’s Newsnight.
A number of fellow ministers received invitations to taxpayer-funded dinners at Chevening, including Business Secretary Vince Cable and care minister Norman Lamb.
Guests have included political campaigner and actress Joanna Lumley and BBC sports presenter Clare Balding
Party house: Between 2011 and 2012 Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg invited 99 guests to Chevening, Sevenoaks
Last night a Lib Dem source said: ‘The guests came from a wide range of backgrounds. They help inform the Deputy Prime Minister’s thinking.’
John Mann, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, said putting the information out at the start of the weekend ‘smacks of burying bad news’.
Chevening is traditionally used solely by the Foreign Secretary, but under the Coalition William Hague is sharing it with Mr Clegg. The list relates only to his entertaining, not Mr Hague’s.
The mansion was built in the 17th century and has 115 rooms and 530 acres of woodland. Mr Clegg has described it as a ‘haven of freedom’.
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