Jeremy Hunt’s three children left personal notes for Keir Starmer’s teenage son and daughter after last week’s general election, containing advice about living in Downing Street.
The prime minister said his children were “very pleased” to receive the letters from the Hunt’s children, who had lived in the flat above No 11 since their father was appointed chancellor.
The Starmer family has not yet fully moved into the flat, the larger of the two official residences in Downing Street, as the prime minister and his wife, Victoria, have been on his first foreign trip to Washington for the Nato summit.
Starmer also revealed that he had had a “warm chat” with his Conservative predecessor, Rishi Sunak, when he was walking through Downing Street, saying he felt no personal animosity towards him despite the rough and tumble of the election campaign.
“In terms of notes, what I will tell you is this, it was very nice. Jeremy Hunt’s children left notes for our children coming into the No 11 flat,” he told reporters on the flight to Washington, where he also met the US president, Joe Biden, at the White House.
“We have not moved in yet because we didn’t want to leave the kids there while we were away, but I think that was really sweet and thoughtful of them to do that, because for children this is very impactful.
“They have been through it. They are slightly different ages but for them to be thoughtful enough to leave a note is very special. Our children were very pleased to get those notes.”
Hunt, who was pictured leaving Downing Street with his wife, children and dog Poppy after the Tories’ election defeat, declined to say what was in the notes. However, it is understood that they contained advice from his children on living above No 11.
The prime minister, asked whether he had spoken to his predecessor in the days since Labour won a landslide election victory, said: “I did have a warm chat with Rishi Sunak when we were walking through. There has never been any personal animosity. We are political opponents – that gets quite heated during a general election campaign but I have never had any personal animosity.”
Starmer will be neighbours with Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, who is expected to move into the smaller flat above No 10 with her husband, the senior civil servant Nick Joicey, and their two young children.
On the flight to Washington on Tuesday, Starmer admitted that the previous days, since winning power, had been a “real transition” for him.
“This time last week … I was just checking into a hotel that was more like a bed and breakfast in Carmarthen and about to do the last day of the campaign. And here we are now on the way to the Nato summit – so a real transition.
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“We’ve been really busy and I hope that we’ve made good on our commitment to hit the ground running. Obviously I was very pleased to be able to go to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales very early on – that meant a lot to me to go to all four of those.
“I met the mayors … Rachel has already made decisions on growing the economy, so I’m really pleased that we’ve made this transition swiftly and smoothly.”
Asked whether it was odd travelling with his wife, he laughed, replying: “No, I travel with my wife a lot. Look, it’s a big transition for Vic and even more for the kids. But Vic’s very pleased to be doing it. It’s great to have her here by my side while we go to this summit.
“We will take a bit more time with the kids … we haven’t moved in yet because I didn’t want them left on their own while the two of us were away this week, so we’ll just take a bit more time on that.”
The Hunt children are not the first to leave a note. Liam Byrne, the chief secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown, left one for his successor that said: “I’m afraid there is no money”, which proved to be a gift for the Conservatives for years after.