Keir Starmer criticised for 'mean' decision to remove iconic portrait of Margaret Thatcher from 10 Downing Street

Just weeks after arriving at 10 Downing Street, Keir Starmer caused a political uproar by removing an iconic portrait of Margaret Thatcher from Downing Street.

According to his biographer, Tom Baldwin, Starmer found the artwork “disturbing” and quietly ordered its removal.

The portrait, a major work by the renowned artist Richard Stone, was to be a permanent fixture in Downing Street. It was unveiled to the Iron Lady herself in a private ceremony in 2009 and hung in one of Downing Street's offices, informally known as the “Thatcher Room”.

The biographer, speaking at a book festival in Glasgow, said Starmer had called the study “a place where we can go and have a quiet conversation”.

He told attendees: “We were sitting there, and I said, 'It's a bit disturbing that she's looking at you like that, isn't it?'” Baldwin said Starmer gave a one-word response: “Yeah.”

He then asked if Starmer was going to “get rid of” the painting, prompting a nod from Starmer, adding: “And he did.”

The removal of this painting, first reported byThe Heraldprovoked a backlash from Conservatives. Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg called the decision “mean-spirited”, accusing Starmer of failing to rise above political factions. Conservative MP Greg Smith called it “absolute mean-spirited”, suggesting it showed a lack of respect for Britain’s history and past leaders.

Scottish Conservative leadership candidate Murdo Fraser added his voice to the criticism, calling the move “crude” and suggesting that Starmer may have felt intimidated by the legacy of a leader whose achievements he could never hope to match.

Meghan Gallacher, who is also running for the leadership of the Scottish Conservative Party, was even more vocal. She condemned the dismissal as “disgraceful.” She noted that Thatcher, as Britain’s first female prime minister, had broken barriers for women in politics and deserved to be recognized for her historic achievements.

The controversy bears a striking resemblance to the one that followed Barack Obama's decision to remove the bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office when he became president. One of the first things Donald Trump reportedly did was to return the bust of Churchill “to its place of honor” when he became president of the United States.

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