Downing Street briefing room has £80,000 ‘politically neutral’ refurbishment
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The Government has spent up to £80,000 to make Downing Street’s press briefing room a “politically neutral setting”. The briefing room, in Number 9 Downing Street, was refurbished during December. The blue panels which had formed the backdrop to the press conference stage have been replaced with wood panels with inlaid lighting.
But in a sign the works are not yet complete, a rough wooden baton remained screwed to the central panel. The blue panels which surrounded the TV screen on the stage have been replaced by grey ones while the blue carpet lining the stage has been swapped for one in various shades of grey.
The refurbishment is understood to have cost less than £80,000 and has largely replaced the blue panels with wooden ones. Asked about the refurbishment, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “A one-off refresh of the Number 9 media briefing room took place to restore the room to a politically neutral setting.
“The panelling restores the room back to its original state. As you will be aware the cost is obviously a fraction of what the previous administration spent on the room.”. 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”.
