‘Wild parties’ in Miliband’s £3.5m house spark outrage
Neighbours’ fury at raucous tenants
AS Foreign Secretary, he l earnt how to smooth ruffled feathers.
But David Miliband’s diplomatic skills face a stiff test following furious complaints from his neighbours about the tenants at his £3.5million London home.
They are accused of throwing noisy parties that have wrecked the peace in the exclusive Primrose Hill area.
There is even the suspicion of cannabis having been smoked.
Neighbours claim the Milibands, who moved to New York in 2013, have failed to take action. One said: ‘The Milibands are miles away so they’re probably not interested. It doesn’t really fit with their political profile.’
The mansion is rented for an estimated £7,000 a month by Robert Soning, son-in-law of Labour donor Sir David Garrard.
A neighbour who confronted Mr Soning over excessive noise said he felt intimidated by the 47year-old property developer.
Residents then tried to set up a petition to pressure him into toning down his parties.
Mr Soning hit back, accusing them of being ‘faceless cowards’ who needed ‘to get a life’.
He admits throwing parties and playing music but insists none of his guests took drugs.
‘I’ve had some parties here,’ he said. ‘ My daughter has had friends around. Music travels. The acoustics here really travel.
‘There’s not a lot of traffic or t r ees. The neighbours are extremely sensitive to noise and there have been complaints. These complaints have gone to David Miliband – he is aware of this.’
Mr Soning is a director of more than 50 holding companies, according to Companies House.
He is separated from his wife Hannah, a 45-year- old solicitor. She is the daughter of Sir David, who is worth more than £100million and was caught up in the cash for peerages scandal.
He gave loans worth £2.3million to the Labour Party and was then put up for a peerage by Tony Blair. The application was later withdrawn.
Sir David also donated £500,000 to Ed Miliband’s failed 2015 general election campaign.
Neighbours say his son-in-law’s parties start at midday and con- tinue until midnight. One was a birthday event for his teenage daughter Saskia.
They say Mr Soning and his daughter threw a ‘really, really noisy’ party the weekend he moved in two years ago. ‘It was terrible, absolutely shocking,’ said the neighbour. ‘That was a sign of things to come.’
She said she felt intimidated by Mr Soning: ‘He did sort of scare me a bit, that man. I really got this sense of entitlement. He kept saying, “Join the party, join the party,” and I said, “I don’t want to join the party”.’
Neighbours have complained to the letting agents several times.
‘Someone told me they were going to email the Milibands about it,’ added the neighbour. ‘I also assume [the letting agent] would have informed them.’
The parties stopped over the winter but neighbours expect them to resume as soon as the weather improves.
Mr Miliband, who earns £425,000 as head of refugee charity International Rescue, was born in the four-bedroom Georgian townhouse, which his parents bought in the 1960s. His brother Ed sold him his share in the property.
Mr Soning claimed he was the victim of a witch- hunt. When asked about the alleged drugtaking, he said: ‘It’s untrue. This is the first I’ve heard about it.’
Mr Soning said his daughter was a lovely girl who did ‘things that teenagers do’. ‘There has been some pretty misleading stuff said, and they’re way off the mark and they need to get a day job,’ he added.
A spokesman for Mr Miliband refused to comment.