10 Downing Street

Encyclopedia : 1 : 10 : 10D : 10 Downing Street

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10 Downing Street is the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kindgom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, situated in Downing Street in the City of Westminster, west London. It is officially the residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, but in recent times this post has always been held simultaneously with the office of Prime Minister.

Overview

With its unassuming stone front step and plain black entrance door, Number 10, as it is affectionately known, is perhaps the most famous address in London and one of the most widely recognized houses in the world.

Situated in the Westminster borough of London, No. 10 is the symbol of British executive power and the centre of the British government, physically and politically. Not only is No 10 the Prime Minister’s home, it is his place of work. The house has offices for himself, his secretaries, assistants and advisors, and numerous conference rooms and dining rooms where he meets with and entertains other British leaders and foreign heads of state and government. From No 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister (currently Tony Blair) decides government policies with his subordinate ministers, most of whom work nearby. For example, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, responsible for the national budget, usually works next door in No. 11; the Foreign Secretary north across St James Park.

Living and working in No. 10, the Prime Minister is conveniently located near the other two major parts of the British Constitution, the Legislature and the Sovereign, housed in Westminster Palace and Buckingham Palace, respectively. Westminster Palace, home of the British bicameral legislature, is a short walk south of Downing Street. Consisting of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, Parliament has been meeting in this location since the thirteenth century. Since the death of Lord Salisbury in 1902, the Prime Minister has always been a member of the Commons. He commands a majority in that House and is the leader of a major political party. As long as he maintains the confidence of the Commons and the leadership of his party, the Prime Minister continues to govern from Downing Street and reports regularly to Parliament on his policies and actions.

The Prime Minister also regularly reports to the Sovereign. The legal head of the British state, the Sovereign (currently, Queen Elizabeth II) lives in Buckingham Palace west of Downing Street across St James's Park. Although she has no political power, the Queen plays an vital role in the Constitution as it has evolved since the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Politically neutral and above petty partisanship, she represents the nation. As such, she has the right to be kept informed by the Prime Minister, to advise him, and to warn him.

Kings and queens have lived and worked in Westminster for almost a thousand years. A royal palace once stood on the bank of the River Thames where the Houses of Parliament are now. The Great Hall of Westminster, built by King William II in the 11th century, stands next to Parliament as a reminder of this ancient heritage and is used even today on special occasions. Across a courtyard from the Hall is Westminster Abbey where Kings and Queens have been crowned since 1066; many were married in the Abbey, and some are buried there.

Compared to these ancient royal, religious and government buildings, the Prime Minister's home is a newcomer. Actually, No Ten was originally two houses: the “house at the back” and No 10 itself. The “house at the back” was a mansion built sometime around 1530; the original No Ten was a modest townhouse built in 1685.

In 1732 King George II offered 10 Downing Street and the "house at the back" to Robert Walpole (often called the first Prime Minister) in gratitude for his services to the nation. Walpole accepted only on the condition that they would be a gift to the office of First Lord of the Treasury rather than to himself personally. The King agreed and "ownership" has passed ever since to each incoming First Lord. Between 1732 and 1735, Walpole commissioned the renowned architect William Kent to join the two houses. It is this larger house that is known as No 10 Downing Street.

As generous as the King's gift may seem in hindsight, the arrangement was not an immediate success. Despite its impressive size and convenient location, No 10 was not an attractive place to live. Partly, this was due to its poor construction on boggy soil and to chronic neglect in properly maintaining it. More important, Walpole set an example not a rule and the position of Prime Mininster did not become an established part of the British constitution until early in the nineteenth century; it was not invariably linked to the office of First Lord of the Treasury until the twentieth. Like the Prime Ministry, No Ten had a rocky history for many years after 1735. Some Prime Ministers lived there, many did not. Some loved it; others hated it. Costly to maintain, neglected, and rundown, the house was close to being razed several times.

Nevertheless, No Ten Downing Street survived and became linked in the public mind with many of the great statesmen and events of recent British history: Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister; William Pitt the Younger, sometimes called England's greatest Prime Minister and statesman; Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, the Prime Minister who championed the Great Reform Bill of 1832; and the late nineteenth century Prime Ministers Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone, perennial opponents, one for an Imperial Britain, the other for a "Little England"; and David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, the Prime Ministers who led the nation to victory in two World Wars in the twentieth century. Finally, the British people came to appreciate Number Ten's historic and symbolic value and gave it a place of honor next to their beloved medieval Abbey and Palaces. As Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said in 1985, Ten Downing Street had become "one of the most precious jewels in the national heritage".

History of the Building

\"The House at the Back\" (before 1733)

George Downing's House (before 1733)

The First Lord's House: 1733-1735

\"My Vast, Awkward House\": 1735 - 1806

\"My Lone, Rambling House\": 1806 - 1902

A Precious Jewel: 1902 - present

In an era when ministers of the Crown received only minimal pay and in effect had to subsidize themselves through their own private wealth, numbers 10 and 11 were originally townhouses in which government ministers lived with their own servants. But when he became Prime Minister in the early 1920s, Ramsay MacDonald, the first Labour Prime Minister, lacking the wealth of former 'grandee' Prime Ministers, found himself moving into an almost unfurnished house, surrounded by household staff he could not afford – some of whom even earned more than he did.

By the 1940s, economic and social changes led to major change in the use of 10 Downing Street. Instead of being a large residence run by servants, it became a working office, with the Prime Minister and his office relegated to a small 'flat' created from the old servants' rooms at the top. The cramped nature of this flat and its location above what is now a busy office-complex, has led some Prime Ministers to live elsewhere. Some 19th and 20th century Prime Ministers owned larger and more impressive townhouses with servants and in reality lived in them. Harold Wilson lived in his own private home in Lord North Street during his second term as Prime Minister in 1974-76, but, with the assistance of the media, maintained the pretence of living at Number 10, secretly exiting by a side door to return to his real home after being photographed entering the front door. Other Prime Ministers lived in Admiralty House in the 1950s while Number 10 was undergoing rebuilding work, or in the 1990s following an IRA mortar attack.

Similarly, after the 1997 General Election in which Labour took power, a swap was carried out by the present incumbents of the two titles. Tony Blair was a married man with three children still living at home, whilst his counterpart, Gordon Brown, was unmarried at the time of taking up his post. Thus, although Number 10 continued to be the Prime Minister's official residence and contained the prime ministerial offices, Blair and his family actually lived in the more spacious Number 11, while Brown lived in the more meagre apartments of Number 10. After Brown married and the Blairs had their fourth child, Brown moved out to his own private flat nearby and the Blair family occupied both.

In reality, two and a half centuries of use as government residences has led to so much interlinking between the houses that it can be hard to know where one ends and the other one begins. The walls between not only the houses on Downing Street, but also the adjacent houses behind them on Horseguards Parade, have been knocked through and the buildings integrated.

In the 1950s, it became clear that No. 10 was in such a poor state of repair that it was in immediate danger of collapse. The pillars in the cabinet room that held the upper stories in place were themselves found to be held together by little more than two hundred years of layers of overpainting and varnish, with the internal original wood having rotted away almost to dust. After considering demolishing the entire street, it was decided that, as occurred in the White House in the 1950s, the façade would be preserved while the interior would be gutted down to the foundations, and a copy of the original building erected using modern steel and concrete, over which furnishings of the original interior could be grafted. When builders examined the exterior façade, they discovered that the black colour visible even in the first photographs from the mid nineteenth century was misleading – the bricks were actually yellow, the black look being a product of two centuries of severe pollution. It was decided to preserve the 'traditional' look of more recent times, so the newly cleaned yellow bricks were then painted black to resemble their well-known appearance.

In a letter to Christopher Jones that he reproduced in his book No. 10 Downing Street, The Story of a House, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher summarized the feelings that she and many other British people have toward the house she lived in for eleven years from 1979 to 1990: “All Prime Ministers are intensely aware that, as tenants and stewards of No. 10 Downing Street, they have in their charge one of the most precious jewels in the nation's heritage."

The Prime Minister's Office

The Prime Minister’s office, for which the terms "Downing Street" and "No. 10" are synonymous, lies within 10 Downing Street and is headed by a Chief of Staff and staffed by a mix of career civil servants and special advisors. It provides the Prime Minister with support and advice on policy, communications with parliament, government departments and public/media relations.

The office was reorganised in 2001 into 3 directories:

• Policy and government
  Took over the functions of the Private office and policy unit. Prepares advice for the PM and coordinates development and implementation of policy across departments
• Communication and strategy, contains 3 units:
• *Press office: responsible for relations with the media
• *Strategic communications unit
• *Research and information unit: provides factual information to No. 10
• Government and political relations: Handles party/public relations

Changes were intended to strengthen the PM’s office. However, some commentators have suggested that Blair’s reforms have created something similar to a ‘Prime Ministers' department.’ The reorganisation brought about the fusion of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Office- a number of units within the Cabinet Office are directly responsible to the Prime Minister.

The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister (currently Ivan Rogers) was formerly head of the Prime Minister's Office. It is now headed by the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff (Jonathan Powell). With the exception of the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, and the Director of Political Operations (John McTernan), who are political appointees, all are civil servants.

Security

Heavy security measures are present, if not always visible. A police officer traditionally stands outside the black front door of Number 10 — a door which can be opened only from the inside. Gates were installed at both ends of the street during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. People are still allowed access to the street, providing prior security checks are run and they adhere to certain protocol. The gated entrance holds a box where several uniformed heavily armed police stand guard. The Metropolitan Police Force's DRG (Diplomatic protection group) provides protection for ministers in London, acting on the Security Service's intelligence.

More covert security measures exist, for example plain-clothed armed police along the roofline of the street and in the vicinity of Whitehall itself. A bunker linked to other government/transport amenities has been suggested to exist under the street, but this has neither been officially confirmed or denied.

The most serious breach of security occurred on February 7, 1991, when the Provisional IRA used a white van parked in Whitehall to launch a mortar shell. This exploded in the back garden of 10 Downing Street, blowing in all the windows of the cabinet room while then-Prime Minister John Major was leading a session of the Cabinet. Major moved to Admiralty House while repairs were completed.

Media relations

Daily press briefings are currently given by the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) from Number 10. These are published on the Downing Street website and amplified at DowningStreetSays.org (see external links).

Residents of Ten Downing Street & the House at the Back (1650-present)

Prime Ministers are indicated in bold.

NAME(S) OF RESIDENT(S)		OFFICE(S) HELD WHILE IN RESIDENCE (IF ANY)	YEAR(S) IN RESIDENCE
The House at the Back: Before 1733
Oliver Cromwell		Lord Protector	1650-1654
George Monck, Duke of Albemarle		First Commissioner of the Treasury	1660-1671
William, Prince of Orange (future King William III of England)		***	1671 (probably 4 months)
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham		Member of the Cabal Ministry	1671-1676
Earl of Litchfield		Master of the Horse	1677-1688
Henry Nassau, Lord Overkirk (formerly Auverquerque)		Master of the Horse	1690-1708
Francis Nassau, Lady Overkirk		None	1708-1720
Johann Caspar von Bothmar, Count Bothmar		Envoy from Hanover; advisor to George I and George II	1720-1732
Ten Downing Street: Before 1733
Countess of Yarmouth		*	1688-1689
Lord Lansdowne		*	1692-1696
Earl of Grantham		*	1699-1703
Ten Downing Street, including the House at the Back: 1735 and After
Between 1733 and 1735, the architect William Kent, under a commission from Sir Robert Walpole, combined Litchfield House and Ten Downing Street into one house known since as Number Ten Downing Street, officially the residence of the First Lord of the Treasury.
Sir Robert Walpole		First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer	1735-1742
Samual Sandys		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1742-1743
Lord Sandys		***	1743-1744
Earl of Lincoln		***	1745-1753
Lewis Watson		***	1753-1754
Henry Bilson-Legge		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1754-1761
Thomas Pelham		***	1762
Sir Francis Dashwood		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1762-1763
George Grenville		First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer	1763-1765
William Dowdeswe		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1765-1766
During 1766, the house underwent extensive repairs and reconstruction.
Charles Townsend		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1766-1767
Frederick North, Lord North		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1767-1770
Frederick North, Lord North		First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer	1770-1782
Sir John Cavendish (doubtful)		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1782
William Pitt the Younger		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1782-1783
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland		First Lord of the Treasury	1783
During 1783, Ten Downing Street again underwent extensive repairs and alterations.
William Pitt the Younger		First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer	1783-1801
Henry Addington		First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer	1801-1804
William Pitt the Younger		First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer	1804-1806
William Pitt lived in Ten Downing Street for a total of twenty years, more than any Prime Minister before or since. This long residency help to establish an association in the public mind between the house and the office.
William Wyndham Grenville, Lord Grenville		First Lord of the Treasury	1806-1807
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland		First Lord of the Treasury	1807
Spencer Percival		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1807-1809
Spencer Percival		First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer	1809-1812
Charles Arbuthnot		*	1810
Nicholas Vansittart		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1812-1823
Frederick John Robinson		Chancellor of the Exchequer	1823-1827
George Canning		First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer	1827-1828
Frederick John Robinson, Viscount Goderich		First Lord of the Treasury	1827-1828
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington		First Lord of the Treasury	1828-1830
For the first seven months of his ministry, Wellington refused to live in Ten Downing Street because he thought it too small. He relented and moved in only because his home, Apsley House, required extensive repairs. He returned to Apsley House eighteen months later.
Earl of Bathurst		Lord President of the Council	1830
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey		First Lord of the Treasury	1830-1834
Sir Thomas Freemantle		Secretary to Sir Robert Peel	1835
The residential part of Ten Downing Street was vacant for three years from 1835-1838 during the Melbourne Ministry.
The Hon William Cowper and G. E. Anson		Junior Lords of the Treasury (?)	1838
G. E. Anson		Junior Lord of the Treasury	1839-1840
Edward Drummond		*	1842
Edward Drummond and W. H. Stephenson		*	1843
W. H. Stephenson and George Arbuthnot		*	1844-1846
Geo. Keppel, Chs. Grey, and R.W. Grey		*	1847
The residential part of Ten Downing Street was vacant for the next thirty years and the house was used only for Cabinet meetings and office space.
In 1877, Disraeli ordered extensive repairs and redecorating on Ten Downing Street so that he could live there. Gladstone, during his 1880-1885 ministry, ordered still more repairs and redecorations so that he could live there. Widely reported in the penny press and magazines like Punch, the colorful rivalry between Disraeli and Gladstone before and during these years firmly established Ten Downing Street as the symbol of British executive power.
Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield		First Lord of the Treasury	1877-1880
William E. Gladstone		First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer	1880-1885
Sir Stafford Northcote		First Lord of the Treasury	1885-1886
William E. Gladstone		First Lord of the Treasury	1886
William Henry Smith		First Lord of the Treasury	1886-1891
Arthur James Balfour		First Lord of the Treasury	1891-1892
William E. Gladstone		First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Privy Seal	1892-1894
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery		First Lord of the Treasury, Lord President of the Council	1894
Arthur James Balfour		First Lord of the Treasury, Leader of the House of Commons	1895-1902
Since 1902, every Prime Minister has officially resided in Ten Downing Street although several actually lived elsewhere as noted below. Also, since then, all have held the official legal office of First Lord of the Treasury; none have been Chancellor of the Exchequer as was often the case previously.
Arthur James Balfour		First Lord of the Treasury	1902-1905
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman		First Lord of the Treasury	1905-1907
Herbert Henry Asquith		First Lord of the Treasury, Secretary for War	1907-1916
David Lloyd George		First Lord of the Treasury	1916-1922
Andrew Bonar Law		First Lord of the Treasury	1922-1923
Stanley Baldwin		First Lord of the Treasury	1923-1924
James Ramsay MacDonald		First Lord of the Treasury	1924
Stanley Baldwin		First Lord of the Treasury	1924-1929
James Ramsay MacDonald		First Lord of the Treasury	1929-1935
Stanley Baldwin		First Lord of the Treasury	1935-1937
Neville Chamberlain		First Lord of the Treasury	1937-1940
Winston S. Churchill		First Lord of the Treasury, Minister of Defense	1940-1945
For his safety, Churchill lived in the heavily bunkered Annex of Number Ten during most of World War II. However, he did insist on using Number Ten for work and dining.
Clement Richard Attlee		First Lord of the Treasury	1945-1951
Sir Winston S. Churchill		First Lord of the Treasury	1951-1955
Sir Anthony Eden		First Lord of the Treasury	1955-1956
Harold Macmillan		First Lord of the Treasury	1957-1960
Macmillan lived in Admiralty House from 1960-1964 while Number Ten was restored. Completely gutted and rebuilt, only the facade is now original.
Sir Alexander Douglas-Home		First Lord of the Treasury	1964
James Harold Wilson		First Lord of the Treasury	1964-1970
Edward Richard George Heath		First Lord of the Treasury	1970-1974
James Harold Wilson		First Lord of the Treasury	1974-1976
During his second ministry, Wilson maintained the public illusion of living in Ten Downing Street even though he actually lived in his house in Lord North Street.
Leonard James Callaghan		First Lord of the Treasury	1976-1979
Margaret Hilda Thatcher		First Lord of the Treasury	1979-1990
John Major		First Lord of the Treasury	1990-1997
In 1990, IRA terrorists launched a mortar bomb at Ten Downing Street, blowing out windows and leaving a large crater in the back yard. Major vacated the house during repairs.
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair		First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service	1997-present

References

• No. 10 Downing Street: 1660-1900, Hector Bolitho, Hutchinson, 1957.
• No 10 Downing Street: The Story of a House, Christopher Jones, The Liesure Circle, 1985.
• No. 10 Downing Street: A House in History, R.J. Minney, Little, Brown and Company, 1963.

See also

• Chequers - the Prime Minister's official country residence

External links

• [Official website]
• [George Downing and his Street]
• http://www.downingstreetsays.org/
• [Google Maps - Downing Street, Westminster, Greater London, SW1]

 

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