Counterterror police are investigating a fire that broke out in the early hours of Monday morning at a north London home owned and rented out to tenants by Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer.
After winning last year’s general election, Mr. Starmer moved into the prime ministerial residence at 10 Downing Street and, according to official records, leased his four bedroom family home in Kentish Town.
“On Monday, 12 May at 01:35 hrs., police were alerted by the London Fire Brigade to reports of a fire at a residential address,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
“Officers attended the scene. Damage was caused to the property’s entrance, nobody was hurt. The fire is being investigated and cordons remain in place while enquiries continue.”
The police added that “as a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire. Enquiries are ongoing to establish the potential cause of the fire.”
Mr. Starmer’s property is only four miles from Downing Street, but it is tradition for the British prime minister to live in the official residence, in central London. The official residence is close to Parliament and has strong security, including a steel blastproof door.
London’s fire brigade said in a statement that firefighters were called to a “small fire outside a property in Kentish town this morning” and that the fire was under control in less than half an hour.
When Mr. Starmer was leader of the opposition last year, a group known as Youth Demand protested outside his family home as part of a campaign to put pressure on Britain for an arms embargo on Israel.
On that occasion, three demonstrators hung a banner that read “Starmer stop the killing,” surrounded by red hand prints, and placed rows of children’s shoes at the front door.
Stephen Castle is a London correspondent of The Times, writing widely about Britain, its politics and the country’s relationship with Europe.
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