Tony Blair and Gordon Brown may not be neighbours for much longer, but David Cameron and his shadow chancellor appear to be getting ready for a bit of proximity.
George Osborne is reported to have bought a villa just a few streets from his boss.
Osborne has joined his leader in Notting Hill, the new Tory version of Blairite Islington. Anyone might think the five-storey residence was an attempt to upstage Cameron’s £1.1m Edwardian house. Osborne’s stabling for wife Frances, son Luke, 5, daughter Liberty, 3, and live-in nanny has cost £2m.
Scaffolding on the side of the semi this weekend suggests the aspiring chancellor, who used to live down the road in Bayswater, could be planning some home improvements.
He may hope the house rivals the green credentials of his boss, who is installing a wind turbine. The Osborne house once belonged to Robert Lusk, founder of an outfit called the Natural Shoe Store, purveyor of “vegan footwear” made out of recycled clothes and rubber.
Osborne was unable to confirm the purchase last night. A gofer said he was in India — stocking up on boho decor for his new pad, no doubt.
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Robbers watch out, health minister Caroline is in town
She may have earned her stripes by lobbing dolly questions to ministers from the back benches, but Caroline Flint is no pushover for criminals. The health minister has described how, in a kind of reverse Bonnie and Clyde, she and her future husband Phil Cole foiled an armed bank heist 12 years ago.
Cole and Flint, the 44-year-old MP for Don Valley, came to the rescue at the NatWest in Richmond, Surrey. Flint dived outside with her two young children and raised the alarm at a nearby jeweller’s. Cole chased the robber and, it is said, rugby-tackled him. Cole got a bravery award and the villain got 10 years.