There is mounting anger today at Sir Keir Starmer‘s continued revamp of No10 after it was revealed he has swapped out paintings of British ‘heroes’ for Portuguese artworks.
Tory MPs have slammed the Labour premier after he removed pictures of former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and William Gladstone, as well as former Queen Elizabeth I and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh since taking office.
Sir Keir has claimed that he removed the portrait of Thatcher because he ‘doesn’t like people staring down at me’, but critics have accused him of unceremoniously giving key figures in UK history ‘the boot’.
Photos of No10 taken during the visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week showed that the paintings of Raleigh and Elizabeth had been replaced by works from Portugeuese-born artist Dame Paula Rego.
The pair of paintings show scenes from Crivelli’s Garden, a mural by the late artist whose work focused on ‘strong and courageous women’.
This has sparked accusations that the new Labour government has a ‘strange dislike of our history’ from members of the opposition.
Sir Keir Starmer is putting his stamp on Downing Street by purging a number of paintings
Sir Keir Starmer first provoked anger when he took down a portrait of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
He has since taken down a portrait of William Ewart Gladstone in the wake of slave trade accusations
Former minister Mark Francois told MailOnline: ‘Starmer’s great clear out of paintings from No. 10 continues apace. As well as Mrs Thatcher, one of our greatest PMs, now one of our greatest admirals and even our greatest monarchs have been given the boot.’
The Tory MP for Rayleigh and Wickford added: ‘Perhaps Lord Alli could kindly commission a portrait of Sue Gray – so they could then banish that one too?’
Robert Jenrick, who is one of the final two contenders to be the next leader of the Conservatives, told The Telegraph: ‘Elizabeth I was one of our most iconic female leaders. She’s a hero I love to talk to my daughters about.
‘Stripping her portrait from Downing Street – alongside Walter Raleigh’s – seems to betray a strange dislike of our history by this Labour Government.’
Speaking about the removal of the portrait of Gladstone yesterday, Parliamentary and Conservative Party historian and Tory peer, Baron Lexden said: ‘A prime minister who removes a portrait of Gladstone, one of the greatest men to serve our country, makes a grave error.
‘I hope that he is not bowing the knee to those who attack Gladstone as a supporter of slavery.’
A No10 spokeswoman said: ‘The change of artwork is long planned, since before the election, and is timed to mark 125 years of the government art collection.’
However, there have long been attacks on Gladstone over his family’s involvement in slavery – with calls for statues to be removed and civic buildings renamed.
Elizabeth I is regarded as an early champion of the trade, while Raleigh was an early colonialist – and also reputed to have brought tobacco to England for the first time.
The changes in No10 can be seen in photos of Sir Keir’s recent meetings compared to when Rishi Sunak was in office.
A picture of talks with Volodymyr Zelensky last week clearly shows two other paintings where images of Elizabeth and Raleigh had been.
The relocated Elizabeth painting is believed to be by the Flemish artist Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger in 1592, according to the Telegraph.
Raleigh tried to establish a British settlement in North Carolina, but ultimately failed amid clashes with Native Americans.
Sir Keir has also removed a portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh (pictured). He tried to establish a British settlement in North Carolina, but ultimately failed amid clashes with Native Americans
This portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch, has also been removed by Sir Keir
A picture of talks with Volodymyr Zelensky last week clearly shows two other paintings where images of Elizabeth I and Raleigh had been
The Gladstone painting believed to have been removed from No10 is a copy of a work by John Everett Millais.
Although he did not hold Caribbean plantations personally, Gladstone’s father John was a significant slave owner.
Early in his political career Gladstone supported compensation for slave owners to get out of the trade – something that was also backed by many opponents of slavery.
Later he advanced proposals to help secure the ‘effectual exclusion of slave-grown sugar’ from domestic markets.
Towards the end of his life, Gladstone also named the abolition of slavery as one of the ten great achievements of the previous sixty years on which ‘the masses had been right and the classes had been wrong’.
Gladstone, who served as PM for four separate terms totalling 12 years in the late 19th Century, was also responsible for major progressive reforms including extending voting rights to millions of Britons and introducing the secret ballot.
He championed home rule for Ireland and working-class rights.
Lord Lexden, a political historian, told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘A prime minister who removes a portrait of Gladstone, one of the greatest men to serve our country, makes a grave error.’
He added: ‘I hope that he is not bowing the knee to those who attack Gladstone as a supporter of slavery.’
Sir Keir has been criticised by Tories for rehanging a £100,00 likeness of Lady Thatcher that had been in Sir Keir’s study.
Speaking to the BBC last month Sir Keir confirmed he has a longstanding aversion to portraits hanging over him while he works.
‘I use the study for quietly reading most afternoons … where there is a difficult paper,’ he said.
‘This is not actually about Margaret Thatcher at all. I don’t like images and pictures of people staring down at me.
‘I’ve found it all my life. When I was a lawyer I used to have pictures of judges. I don’t like it. I like landscapes.
‘This is my study, it is my private place where I got to work. I didn’t want a picture of anyone.’
The Thatcher portrait has since been hung in a first-floor meeting room.