Blue panels replaced in 'politically neutral' £80k Downing Street press briefing room overhaul

The UK 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.

A general view of the front door of No 10 Downing Street in central London | PA

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The blue panels, which surrounded the TV screen on the stage, have been replaced by grey ones. The blue carpet lining the stage has also 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.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a press conference in the Downing Street Briefing Room in December 2013. Panels in the room have since been replaced with a neutral grey colour | PA

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 former prime minister 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”.

The government had planned to hold White House-style press briefings in the room on camera, but scrapped the idea. The room has since been used to host press conferences as well as the daily lobby briefing for journalists.

The exact figure spent by the current government on refurbishing the room is expected to be published in due course.

The official spokesman added: “At the Budget we made a commitment to make £80m savings across government communications. The costs for the refresh will be set out in the usual transparency returns.”

The room previously served as the courtroom for the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council before it moved to the Supreme Court building in 2009.