As Prime Minister, David Cameron was used to having a team of staff looking after his every need.
Now, he struggles even to make a household purchase.
The Daily Mail can disclose that the former prime minister was refused permission to buy a new mobile phone at a Vodafone store.
‘He went to his local shop to get a phone for one of his children,’ one of Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton’s friends told this newspaper. ‘Because he is classed as a politically exposed person (PEP), it was not possible.’
The failed shopping trip, believed to have been in London, is understood to be not the first time the former Conservative leader has encountered such problems.
‘The PEP issue comes up again and again,’ the friend said.
The problems stem from financial regulations which consider a politically exposed person to present a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption by virtue of their position and the influence they may hold.
While Sir Jeremy Hunt was Chancellor of the Exchequer, he revealed in 2023 that he had been refused permission to open an account with Monzo bank due to his political profile.
‘If the price of going into public life is that you find it really hard to set up a bank account, then we need to make sure that we remove barriers where we can,’ Sir Jeremy said at the time.
Last year, Britain’s biggest banks were told by the City watchdog to do more to ensure parliamentarians, senior public servants and their families were treated fairly.
In a warning to financial firms – including banks, payment companies and lenders – the Financial Conduct Authority said they should not disadvantage people running for office or taking senior public roles.
It followed the political row in 2023 triggered by Nigel Farage after the private bank Coutts closed the Reform UK leader’s account, leading to a media storm and the issue being taken up by the then Conservative government.
Farage argued that the closure was likely to have been linked to his status as a politically exposed person and claims in the House of Commons that he had received payments from the state-funded broadcaster Russia Today.
Details leaked to the BBC suggested Farage had fallen below Coutts’ commercial criteria, which requires customers to hold at least £3million in savings, or borrow or invest at least £1million with the bank.
However, Farage later obtained evidence which he claimed showed that Coutts had acted because of his political values, leading to questions over whether banks were treating PEPs fairly. The scandal led to the resignation of Alison Rose, the chief executive of NatWest Group, owners of Coutts.
A Vodafone spokesman declined to comment.