A Cabinet minister sold her home close to the proposed High Speed 2 rail link just two months before the Government gave the go-ahead to the controversial project.
Cheryl Gillan, the Welsh secretary, sold the house in Amersham, Bucks, last November for £320,000 – just weeks before the Government gave the go-ahead to the £32 billion scheme.
The 17th century terraced house lies 500 yards from the proposed Birmingham to London train route.
Mrs Gillan had been one of the leading opponents to HS2 on the Tories’ benches and had previously threatened to resign if the project was given the green light.
However, after the government signalled its intention to press ahead with the scheme last Tuesday, Gillian emphasised the “good progress” that has been made in mitigating the effects of the new rail route in her constituency with longer tunnels.
Details of the property transaction this weekend angered her constituents. George Allison, 71, the treasurer of the HS2 Amersham Action Group, said: “Mrs Gillan should not be selling her house and she should be fighting HS2.
“I would imagine, like many MPs, she is quite wealthy so she probably didn’t think much about the potential fall in property prices.
“But you might wonder whether she wants to be so accessible to her constituents now.”
This weekend banners and posters have appeared in her constituency that read: “Cheryl, you let us down. Go now.”
The sale of the property in Amersham’s attractive old town leaves Mrs Gillan without a house in her constituency. Her main home is located more than 30 miles away in Epsom, Surrey.
A spokesman for the Welsh Secretary confirmed that the house was sold in November last year for 20% below the asking price after being on the market for 18 months.
He said that Mrs Gillan had decided to sell the property because she and her 84-year-old husband have difficulty climbing stairs.
As opposition to HS2 grew last year Mrs Gillan warned that “many” properties would be blighted by HS2 “for a long period of time”.
Seb Berry, an independent councillor for the nearby town of Great Missenden, said: “We now have an MP who sits in the Cabinet that has approved a policy that will blight many homes in her own constituency – and yet she no longer owns a property here.
“That will make local people – many whom were in tears over the HS2 decision – very angry.”
It is possible that Mrs Gillan would have obtained a significantly lower price for her Amersham home after Justine Greening, the transport secretary, gave the go-ahead for HS2 last Tuesday.
The 2010 ministerial code stipulates that “minister must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise”.
It stipulates that ministers “should be guided by the advice given to them by their Permanent Secretary and the independent adviser on Ministers’ interests.”
Mrs Gillan’s spokesman said that she did not directly inform the most senior civil servant at the Wales Office that she was selling property, but said: “On taking office Mrs Gillan disclosed her private interests with the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice and the independent adviser on ministers’ interests.
“She has always fully complied with the ministerial code.”
Comment: It sounds a bit like insider trading.
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