Once upon a time it was the ‘Notting Hill set’ which ran the Tory party, with David Cameron, George Osborne and Michael Gove all boasting homes there. Now though, the Cameroons are largely gone and if there can be said to be an alternative London clique, it will be found seven miles south, in the leafy surroundings of Richmond. For the district is the power base of Carrie Johnson, who worked there for local MP Zac Goldsmith, the defra minister who now sits in the Lords alongside longtime Richmond council leader Nicholas True. The latter’s daughter Sophia also works in No. 10 as a special adviser.
But now a little-noticed answer by Lord True has made life slightly more tricky for Boris, Carrie, Sophia and their colleagues in No. 10. For the noble peer serves in the Cabinet Office and has had to face numerous questions about ‘partygate’ and the raucous shenanigans that did or did not take place in Downing Street during 2020.
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