Downing Street

Downing Street, in Westminster, is very close to the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and New Scotland Yard. The original houses are centuries old and most have been demolished, but the remaining ones are:-

9 ~ the Chief Whip’s office and the Brexit department
10 ~ the Prime Minister’s residence, office and reception rooms (commonly known as “number ten”)
11 ~ the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s residence
12 ~ the Chief Whip’s residence and the Press Office

These houses are all connected and there is a very grand ‘extension’ and garden at the back, where the Prime Minister holds receptions and banquets. There are around a hundred rooms in total. The Prime Minister and his/her family live on the third floor and this has been the case since 1902; although it has been available since 1735, not all Prime Ministers had chosen to live there.

The famous front door is now reinforced with a metal back, making it bomb-proof.

*Image of State dining room at 10 Downing St.: Downing Street at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0*

(Top image: RachelH_ at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0)