The close-knit worlds of business and politics lined up shoulder-to-shoulder in the pews of a West London church yesterday in a rare display of their mutual appreciation of spin.

Despite a busy day of political rivalries, Gordon Brown and David Cameron rushed to be at the side of Britain’s premier corporate spin-doctor as he married his long-time girlfriend. Chief executives from FTSE 100 companies and politicians from both sides of the political divide passed beneath the arch of roses above the entrance to Christ Church in Kensington to witness the wedding.

All were there for one man — Alan Parker — a former oil-rig worker and rock band manager who built up the Brunswick public relations empire, is worth a reputed £110 million, and has a hotline to any chief executive in the country.

They were there to witness his union with Jane Hardman, a former beau of William Hague. She met Mr Parker, the 50-year-old son of the late British Rail chairman Sir Peter Parker and elder brother of Nathaniel, the TV actor , when she went to work at Brunswick.

But the event also brought together the biggest rivals in politics, with the Chancellor and the Leader of the Opposition thrust face to face just hours after Mr Cameron made a speech in Perth attacking the Chancellor’s attitude to marriage. Mr Cameron lambasted Mr Brown for having “penalised” marriage through his tax and benefits rules and then compounding the mistake by putting himself on the side of selfish individualism. After the speech the Tory leader dashed back to London to be at the wedding. Despite the rivalries bubbling to the surface earlier in the day, both were forced to put aside politics.

The Chancellor arrived ten minutes before the ceremony began with his wife, Sarah, and posed for photographs beneath an arch of roses surrounding the doorway. Wearing a navy blue suit and a fuchsia tie, the Chancellor said that he had just come to celebrate the marriage. Mrs Brown was wearing a modest black suit and carried a red and white handbag.

Five minutes later the Conservative leader arrived, dressed in a navy suit and green tie, with his wife, Samantha. He offered the bride and groom his “very good wishes”. Samantha was wearing a black jacket and white skirt with polka dots around the hem.

The ability of Mr Parker to secure the two biggest rivals in politics at his wedding was a tribute to his deft brinkman-ship, and desire to keep a foot in both camps. As the multi-millionaire boss of Brunswick public relations, Mr Parker is a good friend of the Chancellor and his wife, who used to work for him. Mr Parker and his bride have been invited to the Brown’s consistutuency home in Fife. The Chancellor is also godfather to the couple’s 20-month-old son, William.

In recent months Mr Parker has also openly praised Mr Cameron and, at his 50th birthday party at Ealing Studios, sat next to the Conservative leader.

After yesterday’s ceremony, Mr Cameron was due to give a speech at the reception at the fashionable Orangery restaurant and to toast the bride.

The bill for flowers for the day is believed to have been more than £10,000. Also in the audience was Stephen Carter, the former chief executive of Ofcom, who moved to the same post at Brunswick.

Mr Parker’s brothers, Nathaniel and Oliver, a director, were also in attendance, as was his elder sister, Lucy. Nathaniel, who was acting as usher, read a Sanskrit poem, while Lucy recited Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s How Do I Love Thee? Annabel Byng, the bride’s sister, gave a reading from Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier.

The Rev Michael Fuller, of St George’s, Campden Hill, began the service by asking the congregation to sing the hymn Immortal, Invisible. The ceremony included choral renditions of Handel’s Zadok the Priestand the Hallelujahchorus from Messiah.

Which side?

—The political and media establishments united last July for the marriage of Adam Boulton, Sky News political editor, and Anji Hunter, former “gatekeeper” for Tony Blair, who was the principal wedding guest

—Gordon Brown was considered Westminster’s most eligible bachelor before he announced his wedding — at 24 hours’ notice — to Sarah Macauley. No members of the Cabinet were among the fewer than 30 wedding guests

—Charles Kennedy’s marriage to Sarah Gurling was delayed for five minutes because of the late arrival of Tony Blair to the ceremony in the crypt of the Commons in July 2002

—William Hague also favoured the crypt chapel at the Palace of Westminster when he married Ffion Jenkins in December 1997. He invited only six MPs

Times Recommends

• UK regional accents thrive against the odds
• ‘Scarecrow’ wind farms put rare birds to flight
• What an anti-climax: G-spot is a myth