Friends of the Blairs say that the prime minister's wife, who takes time out from her legal career to support her husband, is dismayed at the deep hole that is being burnt in the household budget to buy smart outfits which help to create a positive image for Britain. Unlike Hillary Clinton, who has a lavish office in the White House as First Lady of the United States, Cherie Blair receives modest help from the public purse and has no clothing allowance. On the Blairs' trip to the Commonwealth summit in South Africa last week, the taxpayer footed the bill for her air fare, hotel costs, and meals. But everything else had to be paid by her.

One friend of the couple said: ``Cherie is having to spend a fortune on her outfits for public engagements. It is not as if she wants to splash out,but she knows that unless she looks good, Lynda Lee-Potter will slag her off for looking frumpy.'' The first lady went to extraordinary lengths, with a budget running into thousands of pounds, to fund her costs for her three-day trip to the Commonwealth summit. She spent more than -- 2,000 to fly out her hairdresser to ensure that her hair was in perfect shape. She was said to be determined to avoid a repeat of her last trip to South Africa in January when she was criticised in the local press for lack of style.

In the weeks running up to her latest trip, Cherie Blair went to enormous lengths to choose eye-catching outfits for public engagements, including the outing in Durban, a formal dress for the Queen's banquet that night and casual clothes for the leaders' retreat for the last weekend. Cynics might suggest that Cherie Blair, a high flying QC who has taken the first step to a judgeship by sitting as a Recorder, can easily afford to splash out on designer-label clothes. She is said to earn up to£200,000 a year -- though that is before the expenses of her barristers' chambers have been paid -- and she lives rent free in Downing Street. Friends of the Blairs say, however, that it is unfair to expect her to foot such a large bill when she is effectively representing Britain. The country's image, at a Commonwealth summit or a high profile dinner with the Clintons, is closely bound up with the first lady who has to eat into her hard-earned salary for each occasion. Tony Blair shares his wife's frustrations because of the strict rules which govern his expenses in Downing Street. As an example of British parsimony, even the entertainment budget of President Chirac's spokeswomen, Catherine Colonna, outstrips Blair's.

At a recent banquet, a sheepish Blair asked whether he could have a doggy bag for the leftovers. One friend said: ``Cherie and Tony can't throw dinner parties like they used to when they had friends round. They have to hire caterers and that costs money.'' The Blairs are unlikely to findany relief because the Prime Minister is said to be determined to keep a cap on spending, which means no increase in expenses and no topping up of the salaries of Cabinet ministers. Downing Stret sources say that the prime minister is sympathetic to pleas, from the likes of the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, to raise their salaries after Blair imposed a freeze as soon as Labour took office. However, one source said: ``There is a position on pay and we have got to stick to it. If we were to change the position, it wouldn't look very good next to our calls for pay restraint.''

The Prime Minister is entitled to £154,187, but takes £109,768. Britain has always taken a parsimonious view over political expenses, according to Harold Wilson's biographer, Ben Pimlott. ``Labour Prime Ministers have always found it hard to make ends meet,'' he said. ``Everyone shivered during meetings in Downing Street with Ramsay MacDonald because he wanted to save on the coal bill.'' Logic suggests that there should begreater allowances because the Prime Minister's salary is relatively modest.`` Lord Wilson became so exasperated with civil servants, who vigorously enforced the rules on spending, that a novel system was devised to allow his adviser, Marcia Falkender, to accompany him abroad. She was described as ``Mrs Wilson's maid'', according to Professor Pimlott.

-- The Observer News Service