Virtual tour of 10 Downing Street

January 3, 2007 5:32 AM

Sadly, you will never be important enough to be invited to 10 Downing Street. So take a virtual tour instead.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (23 comments total)

Oh I don't know. £250,000 was the going price for quite some time for a seat in the legislature. I'm sure that a substantially smaller donation would get you shown round 10 Downing Street.
posted by dmt at 5:55 AM on January 3, 2007

My last boss was in and out of there regularly so it's not totally impossible that I could end up visiting for some reason if my current career holds up.
posted by biffa at 6:02 AM on January 3, 2007

I've been twice, though as a child, for holiday parties. Maggie Thatcher was very sweet to me, amazing as that sounds.
posted by poxuppit at 6:21 AM on January 3, 2007

I wouldn't bother now they've taken beer and sandwiches off the menu.
posted by Abiezer at 6:41 AM on January 3, 2007

Thatcher was very sweet to me, amazing as that sounds.

Shame about the rest of us.
posted by slimepuppy at 6:42 AM on January 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Get a job at the Cabinet Office next door - there is a green baize-covered door that separates the two so that the Cabinet Secretary can wander in one way and special advisers and Ministers can wander in the other. (You also have the advantage of working in one of the oldest bits of Whitehall with the remains of Henry VIII's tennis courts, no less).
posted by greycap at 6:46 AM on January 3, 2007

I found the red key under the highboy cabinet, back where it almost touches the curtain.
posted by dhartung at 6:55 AM on January 3, 2007

How do you know I won't be invited? I was named Time magazine's person of the year, you know.
posted by ninjew at 6:58 AM on January 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Time, yes. Sadly, you will never be important enough to be invited to Life, so take a virtual tour instead.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:25 AM on January 3, 2007

That cabinet room really does seem a bit claustrophobic or at least pokey. I remember seeing it on Yes (Prime)Minister and wondering if it was accurate (is). A bit hard to run from the room after stabbing someone in the back I daresay.
posted by peacay at 8:02 AM on January 3, 2007

I've been round it - a friends girlfriend worked there and gave us a tour over a bank holiday when nobody important was around. The cabinet room is a little bit pokey, and Tony only had one speed dial on the phone in his office - Alastair.
posted by jontyjago at 8:59 AM on January 3, 2007

If it's so 'famous', why haven't I ever heard of it?

Rich snobs.
posted by triolus at 9:23 AM on January 3, 2007

I've heard there is a house painted white somewhere in the States, but I can't remember what happens there.
posted by greycap at 11:12 AM on January 3, 2007

Oh, I'm so sorry, greycap, they burned it down. Haven't you heard?

(Tony says sorry about the library btw)
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:45 AM on January 3, 2007

Ooh, I got to go in there once, to meet a friend for a drink when she was working in the policy unit. The weirdest thing was being let through the gates from Whitehall, the police officer saying "Do you know where you're going?' and then just wandering down the road to the door on my own (well, it was pre-2001).
When I got there, there wasn't a policeman at the door, so I stood there for a few seconds wondering what to do and looking for a buzzer and finally had to give in and knock with the big brass knocker on the door. A little man swung the door open, and said "Hello, you must be penguin pie". Completely surreal.

(obviously, he didn't actually say penguin pie - that would've been even more surreal).

Also a little odd was being shown around the state rooms by my friend, who was saying things like "This is where we had our Christmas party - there was a little man with a disco just here..."
posted by penguin pie at 12:36 PM on January 3, 2007

Where are the memos?
posted by homunculus at 12:48 PM on January 3, 2007

penguin pie: I used to go there for meetings from time to time (I pre-emptively took greycap's advice in April 2000). In early 2006, they still let you walk down on your own.
posted by athenian at 12:57 PM on January 3, 2007

I haven't been in No. 10, but I was in another building on Downing Street where the Privy Council sits. This was post 2001 and I was really surprised at how basically relaxed it is round there, especially once you're through the gates.
posted by tiny crocodile at 1:46 PM on January 3, 2007

Could someone tell me why there are what appear to be silver trays on top of what appear to be radiator covers under the windows in the state dining room?
posted by Cranberry at 4:30 PM on January 3, 2007

Sadly, you will never be important enough to be invited to 10 Downing Street.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane
What?!? The cheek of it! Just for that, I'm entering politics. I'm under 40, so if I play my cards right I can be the liberal leader by the time I'm 50. I bet then I'll get an invite! (though obviously, this being the liberal party, I'll never get to move in ... :) )
posted by kaemaril at 5:01 PM on January 3, 2007

Cranberry writes "Could someone tell me why there are what appear to be silver trays on top of what appear to be radiator covers under the windows in the state dining room?"

They're probably either trays of historical interest ("Churchill's PPS used to bring him his post-Questions snifter of brandy on that tray, you know") on display, or just nice silver trays on display.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 6:25 PM on January 3, 2007

I was lucky enough to visit Number 10 on three occasions in 2005. I believe I saw every significant room save for the Cabinet Room and I had tea in the back offices, which are exactly like every office you've ever seen.

The best part is that, upon the first visit, I kept walking past the black fence with armed guards for several minutes trying to find the actual Downing St. And yes, you do have to knock on the door.

I look back on this with great fondness.
posted by joeclark at 8:08 PM on January 3, 2007

gnfti, you renegade dutchy, you should be posting about Het torentje.
posted by jouke at 9:27 PM on January 3, 2007