Hospitalty: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and his wife Miriam have taken full advantage of Chevening stately home
Nick Clegg was the subject of a formal complaint after refusing to pay a food and drinks bill for thousands of pounds at his official grace-and-favour home.
The official in charge of Chevening, the palatial Kent mansion used by the Deputy Prime Minister, protested to the Cabinet after Mr Clegg objected to paying for lavish entertaining at private functions.
After a bitter dispute with Mr Clegg, taxpayers were forced to meet part of the bill, with the Liberal Democrat leader reluctantly paying the lion’s share.
Chevening, near Sevenoaks, was built in the 17th Century and has 115 rooms. Mr Clegg shares it with Foreign Secretary William Hague.
They are allowed to use the stately home for free, with food and drink supplied, when on official business such as entertaining visiting dignitaries.
But they must pay for food and drink when using it privately with family and friends.
Well-placed sources say Mr Clegg, who has taken full advantage of his free access to Chevening with his wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, had paid for much of his private entertaining, but had disputed that he was liable for some costs.
It led to a fierce dispute between Mr Clegg and Edward Barham, vice-chairman of the Chevening Trust, which runs the house.
Prominent Kent landowner Mr Barham told Mr Clegg he had no right to expect the public to pay for private gatherings at Chevening.
When Mr Clegg refused to back down, Mr Barham fired off two protest letters to Tory Cabinet Minister Andrew Lansley, who in his capacity as Lord Privy Seal is the Minister responsible for overseeing Chevening and other grace-and-favour ministerial homes.
Insiders say Mr Barham told Mr Lansley: ‘There is an issue with Nick Clegg and Chevening. You sit round the Cabinet table with him. Can’t you sort it out?’
Palatial: Chevening in Kent is shared by Mr Clegg and the Foreign Secretary William Hague.
A source said: ‘Mr Barham was very cross. William Hague pays all his bills promptly, but Clegg wouldn’t.
‘It was explained to him that he doesn’t have to pay when he visits Chevening in his official capacity as a Minister because it can be classified as work.
‘But if he is there with friends and family merely to enjoy himself, it is not work and he must pay. It seems simple enough, but he just didn’t get it. He kept saying, “I am a Minister whenever I am here”.’
Mr Clegg earns £134,000 a year and his wife is said to be paid up to £500,000 as a partner at US law firm Dechert.
Complaint: The vice chairman of the Chevening Trust which runs the home, Edward barham, wrote a letter of complaint to Andrew Lansley, pictured, who is responsible for the estate in his role as Lord Privy Seal
Mr Clegg last night vehemently denied any wrong- doing and insisted he had paid in full when using Chevening privately.
Mr Barham’s complaints led to negotiations with Mr Clegg over how much of the outstanding food and drinks bill, which amounted to several thousand pounds, he would pay. In the end a compromise was reached, with Mr Clegg paying most, and the rest coming from his publicly funded Cabinet Office coffers. The precise amounts paid by the taxpayer and Mr Clegg are not known.
When Mr Barham was asked by The Mail on Sunday about the row, he said: ‘Erm . . . I don’t think I will say anything. There are no outstanding bills at Chevening and that matter is closed.’ He then put down the phone.
A Cabinet Office spokesman for Mr Clegg said: ‘The Deputy Prime Minister has always paid and continues to pay for any private events at Chevening.’
A source close to the Mr Clegg said: ‘It is wrong to suggest Nick hasn’t paid his bills at Chevening. Private gatherings are paid for by Nick and Miriam. Official ones are paid for by the Government.’
The Cabinet Office declined to say how many times the Cleggs have used Chevening in the past three years.
Last year it emerged that he had invited four Lib Dem party funders to dine there, including James Palumbo, founder of the Ministry Of Soundnightclub in London and who has been tipped for a Lib Dem peerage.
Last night, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘Nick Clegg may have settled his bar bill but it appears it took a complaint to get him to do so. I hope he pays up immediately in future.’
Nick Clegg has one of those faces you just want to punch, and after reading this, i want to punch him more than ever. What a slime ball Clegg is, he's a multi mililonaire sickening son of a bitch, who does not care one bit that it's the tax payer who has to pick up his tab, while he rubs our noses in it. Most of us are struggling to put food on the table for our family's because of of the cuts Clegg and his side kick Cameron have made. But it seems this is not even a one off for Clegg, because he's done this more than once, but multi mililonaire's think they have the power to do just as they please, and in most cases they can. Clegg does not care less for the people of Great Britain, he knows as well as Cameron knows, that Great Britain is finished, but i'm glad the papers have shown Clegg for what he is, and that is a total slime ball, just like his mate David Cameron.