11 Downing Street

11 Downing Street (commonly known as Number 11), is the official residence of Britain's Second Lord of the Treasury who is formally recognised as the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The first Chancellor to live there was Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice in 1806, but Number 11 did not become the Chancellor's official residence until 1828.[1]

It is currently the official residence of George Osborne, who was appointed as Chancellor by Prime Minister David Cameron on 11 May 2010.

Downing Street looking west. The Foreign and Commonwealth office is on the left, the red house is number 12, the dark houses are number 11 and No.10 (nearer, and partially obscured), and the building on the right is the Barry wing of Cabinet Office, which has its main frontage to Whitehall.

Background

Number 11 is part of a charcoal-brick Georgian-era converted mansion, overlooking St. James's Park, that consists—from left to right—Number 12, Number 11 and Number 10.

Number 11 is located on the left side of Number 10, the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, which is recognised as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since the earliest era of the 19th century. Number 12, located on the left side of Number 11, is the official residence of the Chief Whip, but it is now used as the Prime Minister's press office.

Many internal refurbishments over years have made it so that three terraced buildings appears as a single complex inside. For instance, one can walk from number 11 to number 10, via an internal connecting door, without using the street doors.

When Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997 he chose to use Number 11 rather than Number 10 as his actual (as opposed to official) residence, because Number 11 has larger living areas, which he felt were more suitable for his young family.[2]

In 2007, Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, he also chose to live in Number 11,[3] but soon moved back to Number 10.

Following the 2010 general election, the incoming prime minister, David Cameron, moved into 11 instead of 10 Downing Street due to George Osborne choosing to remain in his Notting Hill home.[4]

In early August 2011, Chancellor George Osborne moved into Number 10.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "History of Number 11 Downing Street". UK Government. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "10 Downing Street Today". Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2007.
  3. ↑ Parliament — Ministerial Residences (8 July 2008)
  4. ↑ "George Osborne spurns Downing Street to remain a Notting Hill Tory". The Daily Telegraph. 26 June 2010.
  5. ↑ "Osborne's home front". The Sun.

External links

Coordinates: 51°30′12.2″N 0°07′40.2″W / 51.503389°N 0.127833°W