Liz Truss ‘will pay for anything missing’ from Chevening estate

Liz Truss ‘will pay for anything missing’ from Chevening estate after being sent a £12,000 bill that included bathrobes, slippers and wining and dining guests – but ex-PM insists she is not liable for vast majority of tab

Liz Truss yesterday agreed to pay for items missing from the grace-and-favour country house she had access to as foreign secretary.

The former prime minister has been sent a bill of more than £12,000 by the Cabinet Office for costs incurred at Chevening House when she was preparing for her short-lived administration.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Ms Truss vowed to contest the bill and had requested ‘an accurate invoice’ before she agreed to settle. 

But Ms Truss has now said she is happy to replace anything missing from the 115-room country retreat in Kent, reported to include bathrobes and slippers. 

A source said officials have told Ms Truss she also needs to pay for food and wine she and her aides consumed there. 

The former prime minister has been sent a bill of more than £12,000 by the Cabinet Office for costs incurred at the grace-and-favour house 

Ms Truss has now said she was happy to replace anything missing from the 115-room country retreat in Kent, reported to include bathrobes and slippers (file image)

Ms Truss has now said she was happy to replace anything missing from the 115-room country retreat in Kent, reported to include bathrobes and slippers (file image)

She maintains that the vast majority of the invoice relates to government business, for which she should not be liable, rather than personal expenses. 

‘Liz always paid for the costs of her personal guests at Chevening,’ said her spokesman.

The latest invoice contains a mixture of costs for her personally and costs for official business with civil servants including Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and senior officials from other departments who met at Chevening during the transition preparations. The latter constitutes the majority of the £12,000 bill.

The spokesman added: ‘It would be inappropriate for her to pay the costs for officials as it would have breached the civil service code for civil servants to accept hospitality during the leadership campaign. She has therefore asked for this to be billed separately.’

Chevening was left to the nation in 1967 by the 7th Earl Stanhope. Since 1981, it has usually been placed at the disposal of the foreign secretary

Chevening was left to the nation in 1967 by the 7th Earl Stanhope. Since 1981, it has usually been placed at the disposal of the foreign secretary

The ministerial code states that if a minister hosts parties or events in grace-and-favour residences, then it should be at their own or their party’s expense.

Set in 3,500 acres near Sevenoaks, Chevening was left to the nation in 1967 by the 7th Earl Stanhope. Since 1981, it has usually been placed at the disposal of the foreign secretary.

After winning the Conservative Party leadership race in September, Ms Truss lasted just 45 days in office after the tax-cutting mini-Budget presented by her then chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, sent the markets into turmoil.

Since leaving Downing Street in October as the shortest-serving prime minister in history, Ms Truss has been charging up to £65,000 for making speeches.

She blames her downfall on a ‘concerted effort by international actors to challenge our plan for growth’.

She plans to stand again as an MP for South West Norfolk at the next election.