A squabble has broken out in Westminster after Conservative members of the Shadow Cabinet were accused of squatting in their plum Parliamentary offices because they don’t want to downgrade to the less grand rooms allocated to opposition MPs, according to sources.
Cabinet ministers work primarily in their Whitehall departments but are also allocated a prime room near the House of Commons chamber for debates and votes.
While in government the rooms are often underused as ministers spend most of their time with civil servants.
Now in opposition, the rooms have become more valuable to members of the Shadow Cabinet. But by convention they are expected to move into Labour’s old offices instead as the freshly appointed senior minsters bag the best rooms.
The claim of squatting was angrily rejected by a Tory source as “complete bollocks”, blaming Labour for the hold-up instead.
The Conservative whips are waiting on room allocations from their opposite numbers in the Government and will then move over, the source said.
When they arrive at their new offices with their cardboard boxes and pot plants, right-wing Tories may find themselves with an unexpected neighbour.
Tory sources claim one former Labour shadow cabinet member has refused to vacate their office for several years on the shadow ministerial corridor.
In any case, the Shadow Cabinet is unlikely to remain in its current form. When the new Tory leader is announced in November, they will probably appoint allies to their top team and the game of musical chairs could begin again.
It’s not just former Cabinet ministers who have been accused of bad behaviour.
One Tory MP was accused by a colleague of plonking themselves in a prime office, only to be booted out when the whips found out and told them to take their turn in the queue.
Meanwhile, new MPs are being told they may not be allocated an office until October as squabbling over the best rooms causes a trickle-down effect on availability.
Some newbies are carrying around piles of post and laptops and conducting meetings in Parliament’s bars and cafes as they await a permanent base. Some are hiring parliamentary staff who will need desks and computers too.
Meanwhile, as the office battles rumbles on, new Labour MPs are being won round by persuasion from old-timers.
Some report being told they should welcome sharing an office with another MP because it could lead to a great political partnership, such as the one enjoyed by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
More recently, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Science Secretary Peter Kyle shared an office in Portcullis House while in opposition. “I was told, ‘look where they are now’,” a new Labour MP told i, not totally convinced.