Prime Minister's Office

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Description

In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister's Office supports the work of the Prime Minister in his executive, parliamentary and party-political roles.[2] The office is located in 10 Downing Street and the terms Downing Street and Number 10 are often used as metonyms for the office itself. Technically the Prime Minister's Office is part of the Cabinet Office,[3] although in practice the two are said to be 'organisationally distinct'.[4]

The Prime Minister's Office is staffed by a mix of career civil servants, who are required to be politically impartial, and temporary civil servants known as special advisers, who are by contrast political appointees. The highest ranking civil servant position is the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister; the most senior special adviser post is the Downing Street chief of staff.

Since the Prime Minister's Office is formally part of the Cabinet Office, it reports directly to the Cabinet Secretary. A communicating door between 10 Downing Street and 70 Whitehall provides a select number of people with access between these two offices.