Starmer Sparks Controversy by Removing Thatcher Portrait from Downing Street

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour Prime Minister, has ignited a political firestorm by removing a portrait of former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 10 Downing Street, citing it as 'unsettling'. The portrait, commissioned during Gordon Brown's tenure and intended to remain indefinitely, has been a fixture in what is known as the Thatcher Room. This move has drawn sharp criticism from Conservative members and Thatcher admirers, who have labeled the act as 'petty' and disrespectful. The artwork, valued at £100,000, was the first of its kind to be commissioned by Downing Street for a former prime minister, making its removal a significant symbolic gesture. The decision underscores the deep ideological divides between the current Labour government and Thatcher's Conservative legacy.