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David Lammy keeps £25m Foreign Secretary home despite demotion in Cabinet reshuffle

David Lammy has kept his Foreign Secretary’s £25million grace-and-favour home despite Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet reshuffle.

The Deputy Prime Minister will remain living at the Westminster property, despite being moved to the Ministry of Justice.

One Carlton Gardens, a regency-era property that backs onto St James’ Park, is one of the most luxurious ministerial residences.

The Foreign Secretary has usually occupied the residence since the end of the Second World War, although the previous Government lent it to Lord Gove as a London pad following the split from his wife.

The property boasts three bedrooms, two dining rooms and a ballroom in its six stories.

It is divided between official rooms for Government business and a flat for a minister.

Yvette Cooper will have use of the property and its grand rooms for diplomatic receptions, although Mr Lammy will still reside at the flat.

Mr Lammy was demoted from his position following a reshuffle by the PM after Angela Rayner’s resignation.

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David Lammy

He has gained Ms Rayner’s title of Deputy Prime Minister, but no longer occupies a “Great Office of State”.

Ms Cooper will use Chevening, the Foreign Secretary’s country residence on the outskirts of Sevenoaks, Kent.

It is understood that she declined to move into Carlton Gardens, despite only being a five-minute walk from her new office.

Ms Cooper and her husband, Ed Balls, a former Cabinet minister, share family homes in North London and Yorkshire.

Multiple foreign secretaries have not used the house in the past, only for ministerial businesses.

It is understood that Ms Rayner’s former grace-and-favour flat in Admiralty House is now vacant.

Her use of the property led to her resignation as it emerged the taxpayers were paying her council tax on the property.

After Labour won the election last year, she was given use of the flat and she stopped renting her own property in London.

Yvette Cooper

Ms Rayner then bought another home in Brighton for £800,000 and avoided paying £40,000 in stamp duty.

Following her resignation, Sir Keir reshuffled his cabinet, leading to Mr Lammy being moved.

The allocation of ministerial residences is a formal decision made by the Prime Minister.

Sir Keir has the authority of patronage to offer the properties to his allies in Cabinet.


LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

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