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Downing Street is the formal address in London for the senior cabinet ministers, including The [[Prime Minister]] who resides in Number 10. The street in Westminster, central [[London]], has been the home of the ministers for over 200 years though has not always enjoyed such exclusive residents.

'''Downing Street''' is the formal address in London for the senior cabinet ministers, including The [[Prime Minister]] who resides in Number 10. The street in Westminster, central [[London]], has been the home of the ministers for over 200 years. The street was built by and named after Sir George Downing (1632–1689). Downing was a diplomat, serving under King Charles II. It was the King that rewarded Downing with the plot of land adjoining St. James's Park upon which Downing Street now stands.

The street was built by and named after Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet (1632–1689), though after his death the area around Downing Street fell out of favour with London's elite and was soon overrun by gypsies. Number 11 Downing Street (now the home of the Chancellor) was lived in by an [[Irish]] gypsy named Sean Parnell who ran a betting shop and whorehouse under its roof. Number 10 itself fared little better and was even briefly a cockfighting venue.

10 Downing Street is the official residence of the British Prime Minister, whilst 11 Downing Street is the home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Things improved in the early 1700s when Queen Anne had the unsavoury occupants shot.

 

 

http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page178.asp