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Inside the official residence of British Prime Minister

In the United Kingdom, 10 Downing Street is the official residence and the office of the British Prime Minister. The office helps the Prime Minister to establish and deliver the government’s overall strategy and policy priorities, and to communicate government policies to Parliament, the public and international audiences.

The 300 years plus building, at 10 Downing Street in London, United Kingdom has an amazing history more than some much talked-about museum. It served as the official residences of two of the most senior British Cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an office held by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Typically, 10 Downing Street is the Prime Minister’s official residence, while the Chancellor has his official residence next door at Number 11 and the government’s Chief Whip at Number 12.

The street in Whitehall in central London is named after Sir George Downing, a soldier and diplomat who built it in the 1680s.

Most of the houses on Downing Street are cul-de-sac of two-storey townhouses with coach-houses, stables and views of St James’s Park, a few minutes’ walk from the Houses of Parliament and a little further from Buckingham Palace where the Queen resides.

The Downing family also built Downing College, Cambridge, which was established in 1800, after its founder Sir George Downing; by 1675, he retired to Cambridge, where he died a few months after the houses were completed.

Behind the black door of the building where the most important decisions affecting Britain for the last 275 years have  been taken has in it: White Drawing Room, Cabinet Room, Terracotta Room, Pillared Room, Small Dining Room, State Dining Room, The Study, The Garden and the Entrance Hall.

It should not surprise you to know that some of the most famous political figures of modern history have lived and worked in Number 10, including Robert Walpole, Pitt the Younger, Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.

Entry into Downing Street requires passing through a security checkpoint. Security is taken seriously as armed police from the Diplomatic Protection Group patrol often and there is usually at least one police officer outside the front door of Number 10.

  • Seyifunmi Adebote for encomium.ng
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