9 Downing Street
Row house in Westminster
9 Downing Street is one of the buildings situated on Downing Street in the City of Westminster in London , England . It has been used as a separate address to the better known 10 Downing Street since 2001 for various government functions.
History
The building was previously part of the more famous 10 Downing Street , which has been the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury since 1732. [1] This is normally the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . [2] Many internal refurbishments over the years have altered the interior of 10 Downing Street , 11 Downing Street and 12 Downing Street to the point that they are all part of a single complex. [1] It was part of a reorganisation in 2001 that the number 9 address was created. [3]
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was based at 9 Downing Street until August 2009, when it moved to Middlesex Guildhall with the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . It subsequently housed the offices of the Chief Whip , though their official address remained No. 12. From 2016 until 2020 the building was used to house the Department for Exiting the European Union . [4]
In January 2020, the government began hosting lobby briefings at 9 Downing Street instead of the traditional location in the House of Commons . The move was criticised by journalists. [5] [6] That year the building began undergoing a £2.6-million refurbishment in preparation for televised press briefings to be held. [7]
The Downing Street Press Briefing Room is located in No. 9; the first press conferences were held by Boris Johnson in March 2021. [8]
Cultural references
In the 1980s British satirical show Spitting Image , Adolf Hitler is presented as living at 9 Downing Street under the name of Herr Willcocks and offering political assistance to the unaware Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . [9]
References
Citations
- 1 2 Weinreb et al. 2008 , p. 246.
- ↑ "First Lord of the Treasury" . HM Government . Retrieved 3 March 2020 .
- ↑ "Campbell ousts the Chief Whip" . The Daily Telegraph . 7 September 2001 . Retrieved 3 March 2020 .
- ↑ "Who lives at No.9 Downing Street" . The Guardian . 22 August 2016 . Retrieved 3 March 2020 .
- ↑ Mayhew, Freddy (3 January 2020). "Lobby journalists raise 'significant concerns' over changes to daily Government briefings" . Press Gazette . Retrieved 6 January 2020 .
- ↑ Martinson, Jane (19 January 2020). "The Westminster lobby system is at the heart of a press freedom fight" . The Guardian . Retrieved 3 March 2020 .
- ↑ Allegretti, Aubrey (6 March 2021). "Downing Street spent £2.6m refurbishing No 9 as media centre" . The Guardian . Retrieved 6 March 2021 .
- ↑ Barney Davis (29 March 2021). "Boris Johnson to hold first Covid-19 conference in new £2.6million briefing room" . Evening Standard . Retrieved 30 June 2021 .
- ↑ Hendra, Tony (2004). Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Faith . Random House. p. 195 . ISBN 978-1-588-36381-7 .
Sources
- Weinreb, Ben ; Hibbert, Christopher ; Keay, John ; Keay, Julia (2008). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-405-04924-5 .
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