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David Cameron’s new family home is a £16m Holland Park mansion owned by the PR mogul Sir Alan Parker.
Having spent the night the under armed guard of the Diplomatic Protection Group (who also guard Tony Blair’s doorstep nearby), Mr Cameron emerged this morning and stepped into a waiting Range Rover.
“There are some people around here who are up their own **** but I don't think the Camerons are like that,” said a neighbour who asked not to be named. “They're relaxed and chilled people.
“It's a very family friendly street. There's a lot of children around here, I’m sure we'll be looking out for them too.”
The Camerons are not expected to stay there long, perhaps just until their three children have finished school for the year.
The mansion cost £16m two years ago
Neighbours include the Sainsburys family, while Robbie Williams used to live nearby
The Camerons outside Downing Street yesterday (EPA)
Their own home in Kensington is being rented out, but they have another home in Cameron’s constituency in Witney, Oxfordshire.
One of their new neighbours, who voted to leave the EU, added: “When you're the leader of a team you have to take responsibility for the team, you can't say one thing and then jump ship.
“Cameron had to stand down or it would have looked like a bit of a dictatorship.”
David Cameron's premiership - in pictures
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They are at least back within walking distance of their favourite Notting Hill restaurants, and their old ‘Notting Hill set’ friends too, even if the demographic of that particular group has shifted dramatically during Mr Cameron’s six years at Number 10.
Michael Gove and his wife, Sarah, were regular dining companions. Since Mr Gove campaigned for Brexit, bringing down his friend’s career and, eventually, his own, the two families are no longer on speaking terms.
The other staple was Steve Hilton, who along with Mr Gove was godfather to the Camerons' son, Ivan, who died in 2009. But he returned from California with a book to sell, and embarked on a lengthy pro-Brexit media tour.
But it is possible, via their new lodgings, that the Camerons might make an unlikely new friendship. It is nine years since Alan Parker’s wedding, in March 2007, attended by both the then leader of the opposition, David Cameron, and Mr Parker’s longstanding friend, Sarah Brown, and her husband Gordon.
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