This is the center of British power

 　　Recently, Youdao's pitch-black gate has appeared more frequently. In just one year, the house behind this door changed three owners. Some British netizens ridiculed that this place is the most famous short-term rental homestay in the world.

　　This is a black gate that can be seen casually on the streets of London, with a prominent "10" on it. The gate belongs to a conjoined villa, which is only separated from the "11" villa next door by a wall. Such a residential building, by London standards, is just a residence for upper-middle-class families.

　　However, in the hundreds of years since the establishment of the constitutional monarchy in the UK, No. 10 Downing Street has evolved from the informal official residence of the "First Minister of the Cabinet" to the power center of the UK - the official residence of the British Prime Minister.

"My grocery store"

　　Compared with the official residences of most heads of government in the world, the momentum and scale of 10 Downing Street are really inferior. Compared with the official residence of the royal family, No. 10 Downing Street is more "civilian" and does not attract much attention. For a long time, it was also inconspicuous in the minds of the British people. In the 1920s, the ruling Prime Minister Baldwin himself walked from the Prime Minister's Office to the nearby post office to post letters, which was also a common picture.

　　In the evolution of the constitutional monarchy, the "Prime Minister" was just the "First Chancellor of the Exchequer" at the beginning, and then gradually gathered power, and finally became the head of the British government. But compared with the presidential system, the "prime minister" is always "the first member of the cabinet", and there is almost no etiquette except for the real power, and his official residence can only maintain basic practical functions.

　　10 Downing Street is a three-storey house, the first and second floors are offices, and the third floor is the residence of the Prime Minister and his family. On June 10, 1979, Mrs Thatcher entered the Prime Minister's Office. The female prime minister in a blue suit stood in front of the black prime minister's residence and was cheered by her supporters. The next day, the headline of a British newspaper wrote such a sour headline: "The Daughter of the Grocery Store Owner Enters No. 10 Downing Street".

　　This kind of humiliating title caused Margaret Thatcher to retort-yes, I just want to work hard for the country at No. 10 Downing Street like running a grocery store. Coincidentally, the structure of No. 10 Downing Street is somewhat similar to that of a traditional British family grocery store—the first and second floors are used to make a living, while the top floor is the living space of the family.

　　In order to prove her competence, Mrs. Thatcher really brought the working mode of the grocery store into the Prime Minister's Office: from Monday to weekend, she never closes, and after returning to her apartment on the top floor at 10 o'clock in the evening, she has to let the private The assistant stayed, and they continued to work on the paperwork until late at night, and then woke up early the next morning. As a housewife in the Prime Minister's Mansion, she has to make tea and cook for her husband and family members in the kitchen early in the morning. After finishing her work, she runs to the living room to turn on the radio to learn about public opinion, and starts her day's work slowly while tasting breakfast.

　　The structure of No. 10 Downing Street is somewhat similar to that of a traditional British family grocery store.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher speaks outside 10 Downing Street after her resignation, November 28, 1990

　　Mrs Thatcher won three general elections and lived in 10 Downing Street for 11 years. This kind of prime minister's career, which is internal and external, finally came to an end in the early 1990s. Margaret Thatcher stood in front of that black door, delivering her final speech to the British people. At this moment, the "Iron Lady" was wearing a bright red suit, and her temples had begun to turn gray, completely different from the novice wearing a dark blue suit back then.

　　The once all-powerful female prime minister couldn't bear the tears. After declaring to the people in a hoarse voice, "I left Downing Street for the last time and left a good decade for Britain", she took a special car to the palace to pay her respects to Queen Elizabeth. Second please resign.

hidden corridors of power

　　The black door made of iron, the prime minister of flowing water. From taking office with glory to stepping down sadly, the ups and downs of every British prime minister have to go through this black door at No. 10 Downing Street.

Whitehall Street, London, England

　　Usually, the last time these prime ministers leave this gate, it is with regret. They either lost the election or were thrown out of the backbench. Mrs Thatcher's predecessor, Edward Heath, sadly moved out of the prime minister's office after losing the 1974 election. Heath, who loves music, asked people to pass his grand piano directly through the main entrance of No. 10 Downing Street and then put it on the truck, leaving people with a sad picture of "the music is over".

　　But the smooth operation of the British power center does not depend solely on this small and inconspicuous semi-detached apartment.

　　Viewers who have watched the 1980s British drama "Yes, Prime Minister" should know that elected politicians rely on a large number of civil servants to implement their political platforms. Politicians come and go, but civil servants work well into retirement once they start. In many cases, elected politicians want to implement policies that are not welcomed by the civil service system, and civil servants who are obedient and vicious can always find various reasons to destroy the ideals of politicians.

　　In fact, opposite the 200-meter-long Downing Street is Whitehall, the headquarters of the British civil service system. The so-called "White Hall" is actually an office area. Today, people can no longer see a white hall standing there. The area is named after a white bedroom built by Henry VIII in the 16th century. During the Tudor and Stuart dynasties, this area was the daily residence and office of the King of England.

　　In 1698, a fire burned "Whitehall" to ashes, but the adjacent row of buildings in Downing Street was not affected. With the establishment of the constitutional monarchy, this area has gradually become the living and working place of the core members of the British cabinet: No. 10 Downing Street is the Prime Minister's Office, No. 11 is the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and No. 12 is the official residence of the government whip. The Ministry Building rebuilt on the original site of Whitehall in the 19th century became the offices of the large civil servants of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. More importantly, the highest level of the British civil service - the Cabinet Office and the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet - are based in the Whitehall area.

　　In the second episode of "Yes, Prime Minister", there is such a scene: in order to influence and interfere with the decision-making of the prime minister, Sir Humphrey, the head of civil servants and the permanent secretary of the cabinet, always walks from his office to the prime minister's office through the underground tunnel inside. The chief civil servant's repeated uninvited visits finally angered the prime minister. Under the Prime Minister's signal, the staff of Downing Street changed the entrance key of the underground corridor, which eventually led to Sir Humphrey's desperation to apply for entry from the main entrance of the Prime Minister's Office.

　　With these political advisers repeatedly causing trouble, the civil service finally emerged from the low point of public opinion in the 1980s.

　　Years later, a BBC documentary confirmed that there was indeed an underground corridor between Downing Street and Whitehall, and that it was for the heads of civil servants to walk through to find the Prime Minister. The scale of the buildings used on both sides of the hub of elected leaders and civil servants may explain certain problems: the Prime Minister’s Office is low-key and simple, and it looks like a middle-class house from the outside, while the neoclassical style building built in the 19th century in Whitehall next door , both majestic and majestic, the relief of the goddess of Great Britain is proud of the four continents, showing the arrogance of the British Empire in its heyday.

　　The game between elected politicians and the parties behind them and the civil service has long been an important topic of British political drama. British Prime Minister Truss, who had the shortest term in office, fired Sir Tom Scola, Chief Executive Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance (equivalent to the second-in-command of the British civil service system) on the second day of taking office, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among the civil service system. Not long after, the Truss cabinet released the "Mini Budget", which caused panic in the market due to the difficulty in reaching a balance of payments, and Truss finally resigned sadly. This scene is quite similar to the plot in "Yes, Prime Minister" that the elected politicians disregarded the dissuasion of civil servants, and finally turned their backs on their backs.

Always a house

　　British prime ministers have historically shrugged off resistance from the civil service to their policies. During the broadcast of "Yes, Prime Minister", the ruling Margaret Thatcher even took advantage of the plot to severely criticize the violation of public servants by public servants. In fact, in the era of mass media, the civil servants selected on the basis of elitism do not have a good image in the hearts of the public. Sir Humphrey, the arrogant and cunning civil servant chief in the play, gives the impression of being out of touch and disrespecting public opinion. Taking advantage of this shareholder wind, Mrs. Thatcher pulled her own party advisers into No. 10 Downing Street, and since then set a precedent for emptying civil servants.

Stills from "Yes, Prime Minister"

Protesters hold a placard calling for the resignation of the British Prime Minister outside the entrance to Number 10 Downing Street on April 13, 2022.

　　By the time Blair took office at 10 Downing Street in 1997, it became normal to seek private advisers from public relations firms or political party advisory teams to replace civil servants. Blair, who is handsome and cherishes his own image, recruited a public relations packaging expert - Alastair Campbell, a public relations consultant who was once a tabloid reporter. At 10 Downing Street, Campbell, who occupies an important office, can be said to be "one person under one man and above ten thousand people". Apart from Prime Minister Blair, even key cabinet members have to scruple on Campbell's power, and the civil service system is even more disregarded.

　　Under Campbell's operation, Blair uttered the famous slogan "she is the people's princess" during Diana's funeral; also under Campbell's operation, Blair led the "New Labor Party" to win three general elections, the traditional first The big party, the Conservative Party, was beaten to the ground. But it was also under Campbell's operation that Blair participated in the Iraq war in spite of opposition, which led to a backlash in public opinion. Campbell, who was scolded as a "war criminal" by the demonstrators, was finally kicked out of 10 Downing Street by Blair in 2004 as a "blame man".

　　In 2020, the then Prime Minister Johnson repeatedly violated the epidemic prevention regulations and held a working reception in the garden of the Prime Minister's Palace. After being exposed, many consultants and party workers became the target of public criticism. The "Partygate" incident eventually led to the downfall of Johnson and many of his advisers, and the biggest beneficiary of the incident was the civil service system.

　　In fact, as these political consultants caused troubles again and again, the civil service system finally came out of the trough of public opinion in the 1980s, and became the representative of "professional", "neutral" and "experienced" in the minds of the British public in the unstable situation.

　　After all, the United Kingdom is not the United States, and the harmonious coexistence between political parties depends on the neutral glue of civil servants. Under the control of this group of Whitehall elites who wear the title of "Jazz" on their bodies, the elected politicians at No. 10 Downing Street will not realize their ambitions without any scruples.