Downing Street

From the outside Downing Street seems surprisingly modest – not unlike a thousand other streets you’ll see in the city… but not every dwelling has a ten-feet gate and burly copper on the doorstep.

History of 10 Downing Street

Downing Street was built by a well-known rogue from the civil war era. George Downing was a confident of Oliver Cromwell and rose to become his intelligence chief. When Cromwell died in 1658, Downing realised that his cushy lifestyle was coming to a close, and went cap in hand to King Charles II.

^{Robert WalpolePitt the Younger}

Charles was naturally reluctant to employ an enemy of his father – but needed all of his inside information. So he quickly rose up the ranks and gained a lot wealth.

Downing decided that the quickest way to build up his bank balance was to develop the land around Whitehall – a prime sight right next to the Royal palace and government buildings. He therefore built a row of brick-terraced houses stretching all the way to St. James’s Park.

Prime Ministers who have lived at No. 10

The first prime minister to live at number 10 was Sir Robert Walpole in 1735 – although he didn’t really warrant the title. The Cromwell era had only ended 70 years before, and the Crown was still in the process of handing power to the people. His official title was simply ‘First Lord of the Treasury’ – but is generally regarded as the country’s first PM.

The King offered him the property as a gift from the monarch, but he insisted that it be used on an official basis. He also had it knocked through to the house at the back, which overlooked Horse Guards Parade. All of the most important rooms – like the Cabinet Room and White Drawing Room – are housed in the rear.

The next two prime ministers preferred to remain in their old homes – and it wasn’t until 1763 that the next one moved in. Unfortunately, he was sacked two years later and Lord North took his place.

^{Benjamin DisraeliWilliam GladstoneWinston Churchill}

It was under Lord North that several major improvements were made – including the famous lamp and lions-head knocker on the door. He also built the checkerboard floor that you sometimes see on the news.

The next PM to take up residence was the country’s youngest-ever leader – the 24-year-old William Pitt. He was also the longest-ever resident of Downing Street – bedding down for twenty years between 1783-1801 and 1804-06.

11 Downing Street, Chancellor of the Exchequer

No.11 became the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1828, when the surrounding area was filling up with gin-joints and seedy brothels. Crime was so rife, that two prime ministers felt the whistle of an assassin’s bullet – Spencer Perceval and Robert Peel. Robert Peel was lucky, and the gunman got his secretary instead – but Perceval went down and didn’t get up.

For the next fifty years few Prime Ministers felt obliged to live there, and it wasn’t until Benjamin Disraeli took up office in 1877 that another one moved in. He persuaded the State to pay for renovations, and turned it into a house fit for a king. Gladstone carried on his good work – installing telephones and electric lighting.

The next PM had a thing about the place and chose to live somewhere else, but when Balfour moved in with the PM’s first motor car (1902), the place became synonymous with the job. Every Prime Minister since has lived in the confines of Downing’s little cul-de-sac – even Winston Churchill, when the bombs were falling all around.

Security at Downing Street

Long gone are the days when the public could freely wander up and down Downing Street.

There once was a time when people could query their leaders as they came in and out of No.10 – there are famous photos of the Suffragettes, for example, chaining themselves to the Downing Street railings.

That all changed in 1989, when the IRA started bombing London. Margaret Thatcher beefed up the security, and the closest you can get these days is a big iron gate around the corner.

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Facts and information

Address:

Downing Street, Westminster,
London SW1

Bus route:

3 11 12 24 29 53 87 88 91 148 159 214 453

Train station:

Charing Cross BK NR, Embankment BK CR DS NR, Westminster CR DS JB

^{Downing Street, LondonNo. 10 Downing Street}

British politics – historical timeline

1240:

First Parliament sits at Westminster

1376:

The ‘Good Parliament’

1388:

The ‘Merciless Parliament’

1640:

The ‘Long Parliament’

1642:

Charles I declares war on Parliament

1653:

Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector

1660:

Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II

1679:

Birth of the Whig and Tory Parties

1694:

The Bank of England is founded

1715:

Ministry of Walpole, the country’s first PM

1774:

Ministry of Pelham

1751:

The Bank of England assumes responsibility for the national debt

1754:

Ministry of Newcastle

1757:

Ministry of Pitt-Newcastle

1762:

Ministry of Bute

1763:

Ministry of Grenville

1765:

Ministry of Rockingham

1766:

Ministry of Chatham

1768:

Ministry of Grafton

1770:

Ministry of Lord North

1773:

The Stock Exchange is founded

1782:

Second ministry of Rockingham

1783:

Ministry of Shelburne, followed by Ministry of Pitt the Younger

1801:

Pitt resigns, and is replaced by Addington

1805:

No.11 Downing Street becomes the official home of the Chancellor

1809:

Ministry of Spencer Perceval

1812:

Spencer Perceval is assassinated

1830:

Whigs in power under Grey

1832:

The Great Reform Bill enlarges the franchise and restructures Parliament

1834:

Fire at the Palace of Westminster

1835:

Municipal Reform Act expands the franchise to all ratepayers

1839:

Lord Melbourne resigns, but forms another administration when Peel refuses

1841:

Tories in power under Peel

1846:

Whigs in power

1852:

Derby’s first Conservative government

1852:

Aberdeen’s Coalition government

1855:

Palmerston’s first Liberal government

1858:

Derby’s second Conservative government

1859:

Palmerston’s second Liberal government

1865:

Palmerston dies, and is replaced by Russell

1866:

Derby’s third Conservative government

1868:

Disraeli replaces Derby as PM

1868:

Gladstone’s first Liberal government

1873:

Gladstone resigns, and Disraeli declines to take office

1874:

Disraeli’s second Conservative government

1880:

Gladstone’s second Liberal government

1885:

Salisbury’s first Conservative government

1886:

Gladstone’s third Liberal government. The Liberal party splits

1886:

Salisbury’s second Conservative government

1892:

Gladstone’s fourth Liberal government

1894:

Rosebery’s Liberal government

1895:

Salisbury’s third Unionist government

1902:

Balfour’s Unionist government

1905:

Campbell-Bannerman’s Liberal government

1906:

Birth of the Labour Party

1908:

Asquith’s Liberal government

1911:

Parliament Act curtails the power of the House of Lords, and establishes five-yearly elections

1915:

Asquith heads a coalition government during World War I

1916:

Lloyd George succeeds Asquith

1918:

Vote given to women over thirty

1922:

Bonar Law’s Conservative government

1923:

Stanley Baldwin succeeds Bonar Law

1924:

MacDonald’s first Labour government, soon replaced by the Tories under Baldwin

1929:

MacDonald’s second Labour government

1931:

MacDonald’s National government

1935:

Baldwin replaces MacDonald as PM

1937:

Neville Chamberlain replaces Baldwin

1940:

Winston Churchill succeeds Chamberlain as PM during World War II

1945:

Atlee’s Labour Government

1948:

Bevan introduces the NHS

1951:

Churchill’s second stint at power, as head of a Conservative Government

1955:

Churchill resigns, and is replaced by Anthony Eden

1957:

Eden resigns, replaced by Macmillan

1963:

Douglas-Home succeeds Macmillan

1964:

Harold Wilson’s first Labour government

1970:

Edward Heath’s Conservative government

1974:

Wilson’s second Labour government

1976:

Wilson resigned, and was replaced by James Callaghan

1979:

Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government

1981:

Social Democrat Party formed

1990:

Thatcher resigns, and is replaced by John Major

1997:

Tony Blair’s Labour government

2007:

Gordon Brown succeeds Tony Blair

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