The Tory aide who devised David Cameron’s plans to give fathers more paid paternity leave himself became a stay-at-home dad while still drawing his £180,000 salary.

In the two months after the birth Steve Hilton, Cameron’s chief adviser, worked for only 2½ days a week from his office in the Commons.

Hilton spent the rest of the week working from home while looking after his son, who was born on Christmas Eve, and supervising the renovation of his £1m converted chapel in Oxfordshire.

He bought the property, near Cameron’s constituency home, last year from Laurence Marks, the creator of The New Statesman, which starred Rik Mayall as an obnoxious Conservative MP, Alan B’Stard.

Hilton’s girlfriend is Rachel Whetstone, European communications director of Google, who was political secretary to Michael Howard, the former Tory leader. It is understood she is still on maternity leave.

His flexitime arrangement will arouse the envy of backbench Conservative MPs whose £61,820 annual salary is one third of Hilton’s package.

Cameron, who yesterday gave a speech on making Britain more family-friendly, is understood to have endorsed Hilton’s arrangements. Last week he announced plans to allow mothers and fathers to take 26 weeks of paid parental leave at the same time.

A source close to the Conservative leadership said: “Hanging around the office all hours has never been Steve’s style. He sometimes works all through the night to finish a speech for Dave.”

Hilton, 38, a former M&C Saatchi advertising executive, cuts a distinctive figure in Westminster with his trendy trainers and shaven head.

A senior Conservative frontbencher said Hilton had changed since the birth of his son. “Steve has always been a core member of the Notting Hill set but recently he has discovered the joys of commuting to the home counties as well as the joys of fatherhood,” said the source.

There have been reports of a culture clash between Hilton and Andy Coulson, Cameron’s communications chief, who was formerly editor of the News of the World.

In his speech yesterday, Cameron said: “My ambition is to make Britain more family-friendly. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, not just because my family is the most important thing in my life, but because families should be the most important thing in our country’s life.”

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