Chris Huhne defies job fears with new £1.3m home

Chris Huhne is waiting to hear if he will be charged over speeding allegations (Getty Images)

Chris Huhne, the Cabinet minister facing possible criminal charges for perverting the course of justice, has spent almost £1.3m on a new London home.

The Liberal Democrat Energy Secretary, who is expected to find out in the next few weeks whether he will be charged over claims he asked his ex-wife to take speeding points for him, completed the deal last week, according to the Evening Standard.

The Grade II-listed converted property in Clerkenwell adds to a multi-million-pound property portfolio which has included a seven-bedroom townhouse in Clapham, five rental homes and a property in his Hampshire constituency of Eastleigh.

Mr Huhne has previously insisted the five rental properties were "investments", describing them as his pension fund from a previous career in the City.

However he recently went through a divorce from Vicky Pryce – who is at the centre of the speeding allegations, which he denies – and it is not known whether he had to give up any of the properties as part of a settlement.