Not since Ed Miliband and his two kitchens or John Prescott and his two Jaguars has a politician’s excess come under such scrutiny.
James Brokenshire, the communities secretary, has already been ridiculed for his cooker quota. Now he is getting a grilling over his arithmetic.
The man tasked with solving the housing shortage has responded to criticsm of a weekend interview in which he and his wife posed at their southeast London home in front of four ovens.