David Cameron with wife Sam
David Cameron was at the centre of a political storm last night over claims he had compared his untidy daughter to someone who had "fallen out of a council flat".
The incident allegedly happened when four-year-old Nancy came down the stairs to join the Tory leader and his guests at his £2million West London home.
According to senior political sources, Mr Cameron looked at her and groaned: "You look like you've fallen out of a council flat."
However last night, Mr Cameron vigorously denied making the remark.
The debate over whether he used the actual words - which, if true, would be hugely embarrassing for a leader who knows he desperately needs to shake off his rich, Eton-educated image - was gripping Westminster. A highly-placed political source told the Sunday Mirror about the "comment".
When asked if he could confirm that Mr Cameron, 41, said: "Nancy, you look like you've come out of a council house", the source corrected us. He said: "He didn't use a name. The expression was, 'You look like you've fallen out of a council flat'." Later, asked to confirm the quote, he stated: "That's pretty, uhm, on the money there."
He said he was concerned that the small number of people allegedly present could identify the source.
Forty-eight hours later he called us, saying the senior female TV journalist who had told him originally about the comment was now denying it. He said this was "bizarre" and "completely baffling" him. He said the reason may have been the person realised they were the only one who witnessed it.
Last night Mr Cameron's office said: "I have just spoken to David. It is a complete load of rubbish, he has never said anything like that and would never say anything like that."
The row comes two days after Mr Cameron was caught arrogantly ignoring road safety by cycling through red lights on his way to work. The former PR man lives in a £2million mortgage-free home in West London, and has a country house in Oxfordshire worth £1million.
But he has been trying to persuade voters he is an everyday family man. The cynical strategy saw ITN cameras ushered into Cameron and wife Sam's London home. The couple were pictured having breakfast with children Ivan, five, Nancy and 25-month-old Arthur.
Near to Mr Cameron's home are many people living in social housing and he has made public attempts to win their votes.
Echoing Margaret Thatcher's 1980s right-to-buy legislation to help tenants on to the housing ladder, Mr Cameron came up with his own plan.
In 2006, he unveiled a "rent-to-own" scheme to help millions of council tenants buy their own place.
He promised a Tory government would help them convert their rent into mortgage payments to "achieve the dream" of home ownership.
At the time, Mr Cameron spoke of the "huge gap" between homeowners like him and people in social housing. But Mr Cameron is far from the man of the people he likes to claim. He is descended from King William IV, making him a distant relative of the Queen.
Wife Sam, 36, is the creative director of upmarket stationery company Smythson of Bond Street. Her stepfather is Viscount Astor and she is a direct descendant of Nell Gywn, mistress to Charles II.
Tory strategists have urged their leader to play down his wealth amid fears it is a vote-loser.
'David would never say a thing like that'
CAMERON AIDE LAST NIGHT
HISTORY OF HOUSING
Homes fit for heroes but not for you, Cam?
Almost four million homes in Britain are owned by councils or housing associations.
Margaret Thatcher introduced "right-to-buy" in 1980, giving discounts of up to 60 per cent for people who wanted to buy their homes.
More than 2.2million council homes have since been sold.
25,000 new council houses were built last year, while 21,700 were sold through "right-to-buy".
The largest council estate in the world is Becontree in Dagenham, East London, with a population of 100,000. It took 11 years to build.
A former council house in Chelsea went for £895,000 in 2005 - five years after it was sold by the council for £50,000.
The first social housing was at Copley, West Yorks, where mill owner Colonel Edward Akroyd built homes, a school, a library and church, for his workforce in 1849.
The first council houses were built after the Housing of the Working Classes Act in 1890.
The Homes Fit For Heroes campaign, in response to the lack of housing for First World War soldiers, led to the Government insisting councils provide accommodation for the poor.
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