It has become common for families returning to their country retreats to be greeted with suspicion by locals during lockdown.
Yet even by such low standards the relationship between a millionaire friend of David Cameron and residents in an idyllic corner of Devon has become noxious. The Tory MP for Totnes contacted police about constituents’ claims that Nicholas Johnston, 48, breached lockdown rules in the area, where he owns the 728-acre Bantham estate, in early April during the height of the pandemic. Johnston also owns the 4,000-acre Great Tew estate in Oxfordshire, a 185-mile drive away, and villagers feared he was travelling between his properties.
Rumours appeared on the Facebook page for the Save Bantham campaign group that Johnston and his family had been seen
