What is Downing Street?
{{coord|51.503396|-0.127640|region:GB-LND_type:landmark|display=title}} [[File:Downing Street sign.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Downing Street sign]] [[File:Police.gun.1.london.arp.jpg|thumb|right|200px|London policeman guarding Downing Street, with semi-automatic [[Heckler & Koch MP5]].]] [[File:downing.street.gates.london.arp.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The gates at the entrance to Downing Street]] '''Downing Street''' is a street in [[London]]. It is close to [[Whitehall]] and [[Buckingham Palace]]. The official residences of the two most senior Government ministers are here. These are the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]], and the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. Downing Street is a few minutes' walk from the [[Houses of Parliament]]. The street was built in the 1680s by [[Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet]] (1632–1689) on the site of a mansion called Hampden House. The Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the [[Chief Whip]] all have official residences in buildings along one side of the street. The houses on the other side were all replaced by the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office|Foreign Office]] in the nineteenth century. ==Related pages== {{Commonscat|Downing Street}} * [[10 Downing Street]] {{UK-stub}} {{authority control}} [[Category:Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster]] [[Category:1680s establishments in Europe]] [[Category:17th-century establishments in England]]