New-look Downing Street briefing room makes TV debut after £80,000 revamp

Sir Keir Starmer has held his first press conference in the Downing Street briefing room after up to £80,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on a “politically neutral” refurbishment.

The room, in 9 Downing Street, was redecorated during December and the Prime Minister used it on Tuesday morning to make his statement on the Southport atrocity.

The blue panels which had formed the backdrop to the press conference stage have been replaced with wood panels with inlaid lighting.

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Refresh

The colour blue is traditionally associated with the Conservatives in British politics.A Government crest was fitted on the wall behind the Prime Minister’s podium ahead of Sir Keir’s statement,The blue panels which surrounded the TV screen on the stage have been replaced by grey ones, while the blue carpet lining the stage has also been swapped for one in various shades of grey.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman has previously described the changes as a “one-off refresh” “to restore the room to a politically neutral setting”.

“The panelling restores the room back to its original state,” the spokesman said. “The cost is obviously a fraction of what the previous administration spent on the room.”

It is understood the cost of the revamp amounted to less than £80,000.

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"Vanity project"

Under Boris Johnson, the previous government spent £2.6 million converting the space into a TV briefing room that opened in 2021, a move Labour at the time labelled a “vanity project”.The government had planned to hold White House-style press briefings in the room on camera, but scrapped the idea.The room has since been used to host press conferences as well as the daily lobby briefing for journalists.

It previously served as the courtroom for the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council before it moved to the Supreme Court building in 2009.