London (Parliament Politics Magzine) – PM Keir Starmer has stated that he ordered a portrait of Margaret Thatcher to be moved out of his Downing Street study not out of disapproval for her, but because he dislikes operating with pictures of anyone looking down at him.
In another personal disclosure in a BBC interview aired, Starmer expressed that the Siberian kitten acquired by the family as part of a deal arranged by his children “for moving into Downing Street” had been called Prince.
News late last month that the Thatcher portrait, authorised by Gordon Brown in 2009, had been moved from the room she also utilised as a study, prompted front-page stories in the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, as well as irritation from Conservative politicians.
How does Starmer feel about portraits in his study?
Asked about the decision, Starmer expressed that the picture had not always hung in the study and had first been put there by Gordon Brown. He stated he used the room, comprehended as the Thatcher room, for “quietly reading most afternoons”.
“This is not actually about Margaret Thatcher at all,”
he said.
“I don’t like images and pictures of people staring down. I saw it when I was a lawyer. I utilised to have sort of pictures of judges. I don’t like it. I like landscapes.”
“This is my study, my private place where I go to work, I didn’t want a picture of anyone. As a lawyer, people tried to persuade me that I needed pictures of judges staring at me the whole time. I didn’t like it. I don’t like it any more if they’re politicians.”
This rule expanded to home decor, with Starmer stating he only had photos of his children and “the cats” – the family already had one cat before pushing into No 10 – up on the walls.
“I might accept Thierry Henry on the wall, but that’s about as far as I go,”
stated Starmer, an Arsenal fan, referring to the club’s former striker.Â
What role did the family play in choosing the new kitten?
Questioned about the new kitten, Starmer expressed it followed “a long summer of negotiation”, adding that he was very conscious of the impact on his children of having to move into Downing Street. His children, it had appeared previously, were initially enthusiastic about a German shepherd dog.
“I have to acknowledge this is a big move for them, and therefore, negotiating a fantastic kitten called Prince was part of the deal that they extracted from me,”
he stated.