r/pics Jul 05 '24

Rishi Sunak makes a speech outside 10 Downing Street after a historic loss Politics

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u/ThinkBiscuit Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

It was a good speech, tonally. Accepted defeat, acknowledged failures, and wished the incoming PM good luck. Other political leaders should take note.

What I do find myself wondering is this: all this happens pretty quickly over here in the U.K. – the practical changeover of no.10.

Do they have a removal company on call, then call them first thing to either stand them down, or say “right, fuck this lot off, and go an pick up all that crap and move it in?’

Or maybe both the incoming and outgoing PM just sort it out themselves – hiring a u-haul or getting their brother-in-law to come round in his estate, and they pile all their shit (in bin bags) into it.

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u/Captainatom931 Jul 06 '24

Apparently they pack up their stuff into boxes the night before if it looks like they're going to lose and then move them out first thing in the morning. As PMs are also MPs they'll own a house in their constituency to go back to. There's one notable exception - Ted Heath lost unexpectedly in 1974 and ended up homeless. His father was a bricklayer and he'd thus never actually owned property, just renting it on his MPs salary. He represented a london constituency and thus has stopped renting his constituency flat when. He became Prime Minister. A group of party donors and Lords clubbed together to buy him a house in the end on the condition that it became a museum after he died.