Image copyright PA Margaret Thatcher was reluctant to allow her first Chancellor Sir Geoffrey Howe to spend £4,150 on a new kitchen, newly-released papers show.
The papers from 1979 show Edna Healey, wife of Sir Geoffrey"s predecessor, warned of the “antediluvian” room at Number 11 Downing Street.
Three calls were made to “nag” Mrs Thatcher to approve the refurbishment.
Replies from a private secretary suggest the PM may have been reluctant to become involved amid spending cuts.
The exchanges are revealed in the late chancellor"s secret papers in the National Archives from 1979-1983.
They show his predecessor Denis Healey was the first person to contact Sir Geoffrey after he was appointed after the Conservative landslide general election win.
But the new chancellor was said to be even more surprised to hear Mr Healey was passing on a message from his wife, Edna, to Sir Geoffrey"s wife, Elspeth, warning her not to move into the flat at Number 11 unless the kitchen was u..
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