Chancellor Rachel Reeves will get use of the much sought-after Dorneywood country house instead of the Deputy Prime Minister
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has beaten Angela Rayner to the grace-and-favour mansion (Image: Getty)
Rachel Reeves has beat Angela Rayner to the grace-and-favour 21-room government mansion Dorneywood.
The Chancellor is listed as the latest occupant of the 18th-century property and is understood to have had access to the Georgian property since July.
The mansion in Buckinghamshire is usually given to the deputy prime minister and was made famous by John Prescott in 2006, when he was pictured playing croquet.
It comes as Ms Rayner has been forced to deny she is the Deputy Prime Minister in name only, with Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds given greater responsibilities over workers’ right reforms.
And Labour enforcer Pat McFadden has strengthened his position, having been appointed to the National Security Council.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “In line with longstanding precedents, the Chancellor has been allocated Dorneywood.”
Rachel Reeves is facing severe criticism over the winter fuel payments decision (Image: Getty)
Asked if that meant Ms Rayner would not be allocated a grace-and-favour home, the spokesman said: “There are a range of other official residences … They just haven’t been set out.”
The huge mansion boasts 215 acres of parkland and woodland, a swimming pool, conservatory and croquet lawn.
Astonishing photographs nearly 20 years ago showed Lord Prescott relaxing with aides on the manicured lawns of Dorneywood while officials claimed he was running the country from his Whitehall office.
The pictures were taken on a Thursday afternoon, shortly after former prime minister Sir Tony Blair left Downing Street to fly to the US for a summit with George W Bush – leaving the government in the hands of his deputy.
