Politics

Starmer kicks off Downing Street refurb by tearing down portrait of Margaret Thatcher

Sir Keir Starmer has wasted no time making a house a home in Downing Street.

Instead of calling in expensive interior designers or splashing out thousands of pounds on questionable wallpaper, the newly-elected prime minister has requested a portrait of Margaret Thatcher be taken down, saying he finds the painting “unsettling”.

According to reports in the Herald, moves to remove the former Conservative leader have provoked outrage among Tories, with one calling it “petty”.

The painting was commissioned by Gordon Brown and financed through an anonymous donation that covered its £100,000 cost.

It was the first painting of a former Prime Minister ever requested by No 10.

Related: Painter who threatened to slit Ed Miliband’s throat jailed for three years

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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