Keir Starmer has had a portrait of Margaret Thatcher removed from No 10
Downing Street, according to his biographer.
Tom Baldwin said that after Starmer took office he had spoken with the
prime minister in Thatcher’s former No 10 study, unofficially known as
the Thatcher Room, where a portrait of her was on display.
Speaking at an event organised by Glasgow’s Aye Write book festival,
Baldwin said: “We sat there, and I go: ‘It’s a bit unsettling with her staring down as you like that, isn’t it?’”
Starmer replied yes and, when asked whether he would “get rid of it”,
the prime minister nodded, according to Baldwin.
Baldwin added: “And he has.”
The decision to take down the painting, first reported by the Herald,
has been criticised by some in the Conservative party.
Greg Smith, the MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, told the Telegraph the
decision was “utter pettiness from Starmer” and claimed that it showed
he had “no respect for our history and previous prime ministers”.
Murdo Fraser, a Scottish Tory leadership candidate, said: “It seems like
a churlish move, but perhaps Sir Keir Starmer was intimidated by the
gaze of a world-renowned leader whose achievements he will never come
close to matching.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/29/keir-starmer-gets-rid-of-10-downing-streets-thatcher-portrait
Very bushy-tailed, this Sir Starmer. I think I'm beginning to like him.
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"And off they went, from here to there,
The bear, the bear, and the maiden fair"
-- Traditional
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