Cherie Blair, the wife of the British prime minister, is at the centre of a row over the man she used to help her buy investment property. The unfolding scandal is a complex affair in which she at first denied that Peter Foster, a convicted fraudster, had acted as her financial adviser. She then admitted that he had negotiated a discount on her behalf, and said that she had issued the denial as the result of a misunderstanding with the government press office. Foster's is the boyfriend of Carol Caplin, Cherie Blair's "lifestyle guru" and confidante.