Change begins now. You heard the man. So are we thinking chintzy curtains or Roman blinds to replace the Sunaks’ tasselled drapes? And where will Lady Victoria’s favourite picture of the finishing post at Doncaster racecourse go?
Last week saw the end of 14 years of Tory decor in Downing Street. We’ve lived through David Cameron’s canary-yellow kitchen sofa, Theresa May’s “John Lewis furniture nightmare” and Boris Johnson’s £2,260 “gold” wallpaper. Liz Truss barely had time to arrange her books in a rainbow — her main home improvement was dousing the place in flea spray to evict the tenacious tenants left by Dilyn, Johnson’s Jack Russell cross. Finally there were Rishi Sunak’s jewel-coloured sofas and velvet cushions.
Now it’s over to Sir Keir and Lady Victoria Starmer. How will the couple spend their annual furnishing and maintenance budget of £30,000?
• What is it really like to live in 10 Downing Street?
Since the Blair administration, prime ministers have frequently chosen to live in the four-bedroom apartment at 11 Downing Street. Sunak, however, moved back into the smaller flat above No 10 that he had occupied as chancellor when he became prime minister. The Starmers may choose No 11 or Keir may even break with tradition and commute from the north London family home, near to Victoria’s job as an occupational health worker in the NHS, where their two children, 15 and 13, can walk to school. It’s also close to Arsenal, Keir’s football team.
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Before we guess how the Starmers will put their stamp on a new apartment, let’s have a quick look at the Tories’ Downing Street decor highs and lows since 2010.
David Cameron 2010-2016
David and Samantha Cameron are best known for their kitchen makeover, including a yellow Fancy Nancy couch from Sofa Workshop, Oka floating shelves and Jamie Oliver cookware, and a steel and Corian kitchen from Roundhouse Design, at a cost of £25,000. There was a hoo-ha when Michelle Ogundehin, then editor of Elle Decoration, spied a knock-off designer lamp — a copy of a classic Arco — for a fifth of the cost. Fake-gate? No, more of a faux pas.
Theresa May 2016-2019
Described by a friend of Carrie Johnson as a “John Lewis furniture nightmare”, Theresa May’s Downing Street look was probably what a working majority would aspire to, given the budget. Pictured at home on her burgundy sofa, May revealed a slightly fussy taste for side tables from Habitat and John Lewis chrome table lamps, snazzy cushions, rose-scented Diptyque candles and Elemis diffusers. Her 11 Downing Street was traditional, colourful and cosy, with kitchen shelves lined with volumes from her collection of 100-plus cookery books. A respectable effort.
Boris Johnson 2019-2022
In a crowded field, the unhinged decorating project at Downing Street is one of the most memorable moments of Boris Johnson’s administration. Spending over £200,000, Boris and Carrie turned the apartment into a Turbo Sloane heaven, with Boris himself quoted as saying the now notorious £225-a-roll wallpaper from Soane Britain was costing “tens and tens of thousands … I cannot afford it.” The bill from Soane Britain included a drinks trolley for £3,675 and two sofas for more than £15,000. An absolute car crash.
Liz Truss 2022-2022
Liz Truss barely had time to empty the bins and change the tea towels in her less-than 50 days in office, let alone engage in a makeover. Left with an infestation, she had the entire carpet treated for fleas. When Jeremy Hunt replaced her in No 11, he ordered new carpet and revealed that the Soane wallpaper “had started to peel off of its own accord and had actually been painted over by Liz Truss”.
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Rishi Sunak 2022-2024
Known for his penchant for Prada loafers and once snapped drinking from a £180 smart mug, Rishi Sunak was careful to sidestep the banana skin of home improvement by paying for his own redecoration at No 10 when he was chancellor, according to Tatler. Improvements included opulent interlined damask curtains made by Challis Interior in Richmond for all five windows overlooking the garden, with tasselled tiebacks in red and gold. There were upholstered window seats, jewel-coloured velvet sofas and cushions, cream bouclé upholstery and a limited-edition Bridget Riley artwork by the mantelpiece. To be on the safe side, Sunak makes a point of saying how much he loves John Lewis in interviews. Well played.
What now? Keir Starmer 2024-
What will the changes be in the Downing Street decor when the family move in? The Starmers keep their home life under wraps and their son and daughter out of the spotlight. So the evidence we have to go on is meagre: a pretty-coloured front door — possibly Farrow & Ball Dix Blue. Lady Victoria, in her vivid red and green floral Me+Em dresses, clearly enjoys colour and pattern. Upholstery and curtains are likely to be the low-key prints of the comfortably off middle-class Londoner rather than the more sumptuous velvets of the Sunaks.
Social life in the leafy terraces of northwest London tends to revolve around large comfortable painted wood kitchens with Aga-adjacent range cookers, so the smart money is on a cosy revamp (rather than replacement) of the Cameron kitchen — a week may be a long time in politics but a decade finds a premium kitchen with plenty of life in it still. Bookcases will play a vital part in the makeover. Ex-barristers own overwhelming quantities of books. In fact they may leap at the opportunity of a flat in No 11 as a book overflow repository. And if they don’t include some John Lewis furniture, the trump card in the political decor game, I predict a snap election.
