In the United States, a new president typically has two months to prepare to take office. Newly elected British prime ministers move into Downing Street quickly, often within hours of an election.
Keir Starmer, whose Labour Party won an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons, was officially appointed prime minister on Friday by King Charles III. Just hours after his predecessor, Rishi Sunak, stepped down, the new prime minister is set to deliver a speech to supporters outside the front door of 10 Downing Street.
Staff members will escort you inside the building and you will receive a briefing from members of the civil service that, according to the Institute of Government, covers topics including living arrangements, security protocols and appointment of ministers.
Number 10 has plenty of experience of rapid transitions. Since the last general election five years ago, three prime ministers have lived there, including Liz Truss, who lived in Downing Street for less than seven weeks.
This address has been the residence of British prime ministers since 1735. It is much larger than it appears from the street. Beyond the much-photographed black door and the checkered entrance hall, offices, sitting rooms and reception rooms extend into much of 12 Downing Street. A corridor connects to number 11, the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Prime ministers often leave their mark on homes, but this often goes unnoticed by the public. When Margaret Thatcher won her first general election and moved into Downing Street in 1979 (she called it “living above the shop”), she gave the place a facelift.
“The first-floor study was redecorated to his own taste,” wrote historian Anthony Seldon, describing how he chose light grey wallpaper, cream furniture and modern art.
“She was extremely proud of her studio: on one occasion a guest spilled coffee on the sofa and carpet,” he wrote. “Normally Mrs Thatcher would spend twenty minutes trying to remove any trace of the stain.”
In 1997, when Tony Blair became Prime Minister, he and his wife Cherie decided to live at Number 11, rather than Number 10, because of the larger living space. Their fourth child was born while they were living there.
In 2011, when Michelle Obama visited, the world was able to see how David Cameron’s wife, Samantha Cameron, had redecorated the place through a photo published by the White House and closely analysed by the British press.
Ten years later, Boris Johnson’s then-fiancée Carrie Symonds put her own luxurious stamp on the residence, triggering an investigation. The prime minister receives an annual allowance of £30,000, or about $38,000, from the public purse to pay for the Downing Street renovations. The renovations reportedly far exceeded that amount.
Its occupants have not always been comfortable. Mrs Truss said in her memoirs that she had spent weeks suffering from flea bites that some suspected had been brought in by the dog of her predecessor, Mr Johnson. Number 10 had to be fumigated.
