At home with the Tory housing supremo and his very middle-class 2 double ovens
ED MILIBAND was ridiculed when it emerged he had two kitchens – a small one that featured in an ‘at home’ interview and a larger, more luxurious, family one that was offlimits to the cameras.
Unlike the former Labour leader, however, it seems Cabinet minister James Brokenshire has no qualms about parading his own very middleclass kitchen credentials.
For the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has not one but two double ovens.
The details of his domestic arrangements emerged in a feature in the Sunday papers on his vision for the future of housing, which referenced the kitchen extension on his modest family home in south-east London.
‘Not enough room at Christmas’
The extra double oven – there are also two dishwashers – was deemed necessary by his wife Cathy, who felt there was not enough room to cook for big family occasions.
Mr Brokenshire said she ‘hates it when, come Christmas, there’s not enough room in the oven’.
It seems that while at one time a Porsche on the drive, a conservatory, wine fridge or garden studio were the evidence of middle-class success, now two ovens are the ultimate badge of honour.
Mr Brokenshire, 51, is one of a number of senior Tory figures to have opened up their homes, wardrobes and private lives in recent months in something of a Cabinet minister beauty parade.
While others have accompanied this access with declarations of interest in being Prime Minister, however, Mr Brokenshire has firmly rejected any such idea. For most home cooks, oven technology has not advanced much beyond the introduction of a fan, which speeds cooking, and a timer. But the kitchen cognoscenti will know that there is much more to the modern oven.
Recent years have seen the emergence of smart ovens and steam ovens that claim to have revolutionised the Sunday roast.
Top of the range options, which can cost more than £5,000, come with numerous smart features, from sensing the weight of a joint of meat and adjusting the cooking settings accordingly, to offering multiple cooking options from pizza programmes to cakes.
Others allow you to cook simultaneously at two different temperatures. Some models even come with built-in cameras that can be linked to their smartphone, so that users can watch the potatoes as they crisp from the comfort of their sofa.