Police have arrested a man over suspected arson attacks on two properties linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and remains in custody, Metropolitan Police said.
The arrest follows a fire at the prime minister’s private home in Kentish Town, north London, early on Monday.
On Sunday, emergency services were called to a small fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, a property also linked to Sir Keir. One person was assisted to safety via a staircase by firefighters, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.
Police are also looking at a small car fire, on the same street as the Kentish Town property, on Thursday as part of the investigation.
Counter-terrorism police are leading the inquiry and are treating the fires as suspicious.
“As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire,” the Metropolitan Police said.
The first fire at a property was reported in Islington on Sunday just after 03:00.
The second fire took place at the Kentish Town property on Monday at 01:11. The small fire was under control about 20 minutes later.
There was damage to the property’s entrance but nobody was hurt, the police said.
Sir Keir is understood to still own the home, but lives at Downing Street.
He lived in the home before the 2024 general election and it has been rented out since then.
On Monday, Sir Keir thanked the emergency services for their work, his official spokesman said.
He added the matter was “subject to a live investigation so I can’t comment further”, and declined to provide any further details on who was in the property when the fire started.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC she had been briefed on the incidents but could not comment further.
“Police are investigating these incidents and they have my full support in doing so,” she said.
“With any incident, there are always the important concerns that all of us will have, but we also have confidence in our police and the work that they are doing to investigate this incident.”
