The top housekeeper at Boris Johnson’s country retreat quit amid claims of a clash with the Prime Minister’s wife Carrie, it has emerged.
Charlotte Vine left her role at Chequers in 2020 - just six months after Mr Johnson entered Downing Street. She reportedly received a payoff after signing a non-disclosure agreement.
The PM's wife would refuse to stay at the grace-and-favour mansion when Ms Vine was there after relations deteriorated, it is reported.
But Mrs Johnson's spokeswoman told the paper that there was no dispute between the pair.
Insiders also alleged there had been broader tensions between the PM and his wife, and the Chequers staff.
“It was chaos, ‘Can we come now?’ or ‘We’re coming tomorrow’," a source alleged.
"They were told they couldn’t because there were no staff.”
Emily Sheffield, sister of David Cameron's wife Samantha, waded in to support the long-serving housekeeper.
She tweeted: "I remember Charlotte Vine, huge, huge smile and nothing ever a problem.
"Lovely, lovely Charlotte Vine. She doesn’t have a Number 10 press office to speak for her. She worked at Chequers and Dorneywood and then Chequers again, in all from 2004-2020."
The allegations emerged after a row over the treatment of security and cleaning staff in Downing Street during lockdown-flouting parties during the pandemic.
Top civil servant Sue Gray criticised aides for abusing workers in her scathing Partygate report.
Mr Johnson was said to have been furious about this and he apologised personally to the No10 cleaning staff.
A Government spokesperson told the Mirror: "Chequers is managed by an independent trust and this is a longstanding process, staffing arrangements are entirely a matter for them."
It is understood that the Prime Minister and his wife do not have responsibility for staffing and have not made requests for staffing changes.
Mrs Johnson's spokeswoman told the paper: "It is untrue to suggest there was a personal dispute between Mrs Johnson and the head housekeeper.
"Nor was there any request from Mrs Johnson for staffing changes."
Chequers is run by independent trustees while the Prime Minister of the day is entitled to use it.
The Cabinet Office provides an annual grant of taxpayers-cash towards the running of the estate but the PM must pay out of their own pocket for entertaining.
