Sir Keir Starmer has claimed he took down a portrait of Margaret Thatcher because he doesn’t like pictures of people staring down at him, and prefers landscapes. The Prime Minister was criticised after it emerged he had asked for the artwork to be removed from the Iron Lady’s former study just weeks into his premiership.

The Prime Minister said he did not like any portraits staring down at him from the walls and preferred landscape paintings.

The prime minister's decision to move the portrait of his Conservative predecessor, who served as PM from 1979 to 1990, angered some opposition politicians.

Sir Keir has previously praised her for effecting “meaningful change” in Britain and “setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism”. Those comments prompted a backlash from Left-wing MPs, who accused him of a “Mandelsonian” ploy to woo Tory voters.

Sir Keir Starmer said his decision to remove a portrait of Margaret Thatcher from his study was not about her “at all”. He told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme he did not like to have pictures of anyone staring down at him while he worked.

The Prime Minister has revealed the true reason he took down a portrait of Margaret Thatcher at Number 10. Sir Keir Starmer is said to have taken down the painting of the Iron Lady just weeks after moving in - a move which infuriated supporters of the first-ever female Prime Minister.

Keir Starmer sparked fury from right-wingers by pulling down divisive former Tory PM Margaret Thatcher's portrait which had been hanging in his Downing Street office

Sir Keir Starmer has claimed he took down a portrait of Margaret Thatcher because he doesn’t like pictures of people staring down at him. The Prime Minister was criticised after it emerged he had asked for the artwork to be removed from the Iron Lady’s former study just weeks into his premiership.

The Prime Minister was asked about taking down a Margaret Thatcher portrait from his private study in 10 Downing Street.