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Government Art Collection at Number 10

Posted by: Penny Johnson, Posted on: 1 March 2012 - Categories: Art and design

In the late 1890s HM Treasury gave the Office (later the Ministry) of Works money for the purchase of art for Government buildings in London. This was the origin of the Government Art Collection (GAC). Today the GAC is responsible for acquiring and …

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Living above the shop: Margaret Thatcher at Downing Street

Posted by: Dr Anthony Seldon, Posted on: 18 January 2012 - Categories: No 10 guest historian series, Prime Ministers and No. 10
Margaret Thatcher arrives at Number 10 Downing Street in 1979. She is flanked by two policemen and is speaking to a microphone.

Margaret Thatcher moved into Number 10 in June 1979 shortly after winning her first general election. She was not greatly impressed by the untidy flat and dullish official rooms, and...

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The Institution of Prime Minister

Posted by: Dr Andrew Blick and Professor George Jones, Posted on: 1 January 2012 - Categories: No 10 guest historian series, Prime Ministers and No. 10

“How the power of Prime Ministry grew up into its present form it is difficult to trace precisely.” In 1841 a former Prime Minister, Viscount Melbourne, explained the above to Queen Victoria. Details of the lives of individual Prime Ministers …

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