Moving into Downing Street: Life behind the iconic black doors

Out with the old and in with the new.

Nothing symbolises the swift and ruthless movement of politics more than the moving vans in Downing Street.

Moving a new prime minister into 10 Downing Street – along with staff, family, pets and equipment – is a complex task. Here’s how it’s done.

First thing you need to know: It happens in a day.

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak left 10 Downing Street on Friday following Labour’s landslide victory in the general election.

Shortly afterwards, the new Chancellor, Sir Keir Starmer, and his wife, Victoria Starmer, arrived at Number 10.

“Work on change starts immediately,” Starmer said outside the iconic black doors before entering his new office and home.

Unlike other former prime ministers, the couple’s children are not pictured on the steps of Downing Street.

That’s because Mr and Mrs Starmer have chosen to keep their 16-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter out of the public eye.

The first hurdle for a new PM is getting through the front door.

Rather than the Prime Minister fumbling around for his keys, Downing Street security guards will open the door as soon as he turns around.

As one of the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair’s closest aides reflected in 2021, it’s not always so clear-cut.

“Tony has finished his speech and is waving and his family and Cherie are there, it’s just lovely,” Kate Garvey said, recalling the moment Blair was sworn in in 1997.

“But I could see he was hesitant.

“It’s the door after all! How do you open a door?”

Eyes on security cameras, hands on doors, staff springing into action as soon as a signal is given — details like these might be easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of winning an election.

Once inside Downing Street, the Prime Minister is greeted by Downing Street staff, including civil servants, politically appointed special advisers and full-time staff such as chefs and security guards.

On the first day, staff typically line the hallways to applaud their new leader.

Having the Prime Minister live in No. 10 would be a historic moment for the new government, but the leader may end up living in the house next door.

Beginning with the Blair family in 1997, prime ministers such as Boris Johnson and David Cameron have often chosen to live in No. 11’s more spacious four-bedroom apartment.

Of course, one permanent resident unaffected by the rise and fall of governments is Larry the cat, who was brought to Downing Street in 2011 for his mouse-catching skills.

“This is their home and it’s a pretty big home,” said Stephen Morris, managing director of the removals company that packed the Blairs’ belongings into 2,000 boxes when they left Downing Street in 2007.

“We don’t tell people what we’re moving,” Morris said, “because the newspapers hear and see what they like!”

Politics moves fast, and personnel changes must happen just as quickly.

Morris recalls getting a call on the evening that Gordon Brown resigned as prime minister in 2010 instructing his team to be ready to move the next day.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie were criticised for spending more than £200,000 on a major renovation of the flat above Number 11.

According to society magazine Tatler, Mr Johnson and his wife wanted to transform former Prime Minister Theresa May’s “John Lewis-furnished nightmare” into a “high-society haven”.

The work was initially paid for by the Cabinet Office, but Conservative donor Lord Brownlow gave £52,000 to the Conservative party to cover the costs.

The Electoral Commission fined the Conservative Party, finding that it had failed to properly declare all of its donations to Lord Brownlow’s renovations.

Once he moves into Downing Street, it will be where Sir Keir will carry out his most important duties, such as holding cabinet meetings and welcoming foreign leaders, but it will also be where his family lives, holds birthday parties and relaxes.

It’s a “weird dynamic”, says former No. 10 researcher Jack Brown.

“It’s a place of work but also a place of family. It’s important to the prime minister’s job that he and his family feel comfortable there.”

The family of Harold Macmillan, the Conservative Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963, reportedly enjoyed their time in Downing Street, despite strict rules about children cycling in the corridors during Cabinet meetings.

However, former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson and his family found it difficult to “prevent official interference”, and Mary Wilson installed a doorbell in her upstairs room to prevent civil servants from entering.

Friday nights in the Sturmer household are all about family.

“We have a strategy in place and we’re trying to stick to it, which is to create really protected time for the kids,” Sir Keir told Virgin Radio. “So on Fridays – and I’ve been doing this for years – I’m not going to do anything work-related after 6pm, no matter what.”

What happens on Friday night in their new home will be one of many choices facing the Starmer family.

There will be lots of boxes to open in the coming days, and another important but mundane task for the new prime minister: turning the centre of political power into a family home.

Additional editing and production by Alastair Reid and Tom Finn.

Designed by Jenny Law and Beta Yee.