If you ca n't stand the heat , get out of your second kitchen . Ed Miliband today sought to cool the row over his unusual domestic arrangements , insisting he prefers the 'functional kitchenette ' where he was seen posing for TV cameras . The Labour leader , who has repeatedly insisted he is not interested in photo opportunities , was filmed sipping tea at home with his wife Justine in a modest kitchen at his £2million North London home . Now it has emerged that the image of the Labour leader as a man of the people with a run-of-the-mill home was not all it appeared . For Mr Miliband actually lives in a house with two kitchens . The godmother to one of Mr Miliband 's children tonight revealed that the kitchen Ed Miliband and his wife were pictured in was in fact a 'functional kitchenette ' next to the family 's sitting room . Jenni Russell , a newspaper columnist , said the kitchen Mr Miliband was pictured in was used for 'tea and quick snacks ' and insisted the family 's main kitchen was 'lovely ' The poky room the couple were pictured in , albeit with an oven and hob , was revealed last night by a family friend to be a 'functional kitchenette ' for 'tea and quick snacks ' . The revelation opened up the Labour leader to claims that he was trying to make his family life look more humble than it is , even though his home is reputed to be worth £2.5million . And 'two kitchens ' Miliband invites unwelcome comparisons with the controversy over John Prescott for having 'two Jags ' . Today Mr Miliband denied choosing to be filmed in the smaller kitchen because it was less imposing . 'The house we bought had a kitchen downstairs when we bought it , ' he told the Birmingham Mail . 'And it is not the one we use . We use the small one upstairs . ' Pressed again on why he was shown in the smaller kitchen , Mr Miliband added : 'This is the kitchen Justine and I use . ' He joked : ' I think Justine would probably say she wishes I 'd spend more time in the kitchen . ' Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine , the wife of Tory chief whip Michael Gove , wrote an article in yesterday 's paper sympathising over the 'forlorn ' kitchen as depicted on BBC News on Tuesday evening . She wrote : 'Very rarely do I feel sorry for Ed Miliband , but seeing him standing there in his forlorn little kitchen , staring into the middle distance while sipping from a stripy blue-and-white mug , part of me wanted to rush home from work , sling some jolly painted crockery in a bag and head over there with a tin of home-made brownies . 'Surely that ca n't really be Ed and Justine 's kitchen ? All that lovely huge , fancy house , and that is where they do their cooking ? ' I hope for their sake that it 's actually their utility room , and that some bossy spin doctor has shoved them in there to make their £2million-plus townhouse in North London 's trendy Kentish Town look less fabulous and to bolster Ed 's man-o'-the-people image . ' In his Christmas card last year , Mr Miliband posed with his wife and children in what appeared to be a larger kitchen . Mrs Miliband , a child actress-turned-barrister , is expected to make a series of high profile appearances in the run-up to polling day . Yesterday this prompted Jenni Russell , the Times political commentator and family friend , to come to the Labour leader 's defence – by revealing his actual kitchen is 'lovely ' . She tweeted : 'Ed Miliband 's kitchen is lovely . Daily Mail pix : the functional kitchenette by sitting room for tea and quick snacks . ' Mr Miliband is godfather to her child . When a Twitter user expressed surprise , she replied : 'It 's not 2 kitchens ! More like Times ' tea prep area . Ca n't even sit in it . ' Last night Tory MP Nigel Adams said : 'Clearly there 's no cost of living crisis for 'Two Kitchens ' Miliband . 'It 's a bit rich lecturing people about poverty from his £2million mansion . Red Ed can try as much as he likes to portray himself as a man of the people but the only people he 's in touch with are the North London metropolitan elite . ' Last night a Labour Party spokesman declined to comment .
Mr Miliband has a second kitchen for ' tea and snacks ' next to his bedroom . controversy arose after he posed with his girlfriend Justine in small ' kitchenette ' Godmother to one of Mr Miliband 's newly revealed second kitchen . Tories calls him ' Two kitchens ! ' echoing ' Two Jags Prescott ' jibe .