Boris Johnson is shopping around for a multi-million pound country pile with his wife Carrie.
The pair viewed a property with a price tag of £4.5million near Tunbridge Wells, Kent, earlier this month. As reported by the Mirror, the owners bought it for £2.8m in 2014.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson, 58, said the former Prime Minister was not intending to make an offer on the house in Bells Yew Green. They added that he does not know the owners.
It comes as Carrie Johnson, 34, was seen shopping at Harrods, which is a short stroll from the £20m home they have occupied since September, which is owned by a Tory donor.
The Knightsbridge property is worth up to £30,000 a month in rent. However, Mr Johnson has refused to say how much he is paying JCB tycoon Lord Bamford’s wife Carole.
He declared that he is benefitting from £10,000 a month in “concessionary” accommodation. Earlier this week Carrie, Mr Johnson’s third wife and mother of two of his seven children, walked to the upmarket department store in a pair of £850 Gucci embroidered loafers.
This fresh evidence of the former PM's deep pockets comes as speculation mounts over his political future. It is rumoured that Mr Johnson - who is currently the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip - is looking for a safer Tory seat to fight for in the next general election.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman said “no offer has been made, no offer will be made” on the Bells Yew Green house.
One local said: “I’m delighted to hear it. This is a nice quiet village and the last thing we want is the Johnson circus coming here.”
The property has nine bedrooms, a wine store, stables, sauna and tennis court. Mr Johnson is a keen tennis player.
He is paid £84,144 a year as an MP plus an £18,860 annual severance payment after being forced to quit as PM last year.
He has since earned more than £1m giving speeches.
He is also due to earn a large sum from an autobiography covering his Premiership.
The Bamfords are also understood to have loaned the Johnsons a cottage in the Cotswolds, valued at £3,500 a month.
Johnson and his wife sold their house in Camberwell, South London, for £1.4m in November. The sale netted them a £200,000 profit.
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