Upper Sixth students Natashia Harris and Maddie Kaye write:
Kingsley A Level politics students recently had a privileged glimpse of the world of cabinet government, when they had exclusive access to Downing Street and the Cabinet office. As part of the Year 13 visit to Parliament, politics students had the additional excitement of being shown around the heart of government, courtesy of Mrs Todman’s daughter, Charlotte, who works at the Cabinet office.

We had to go through a vast array of security checks before entering Downing Street itself, watched by envious onlookers. We were then given a brief history of the building by the facilities manager, who’s in charge of the priceless furniture and works of art. He was on site supervising the apparently casual removal of chairs worth £150,000.


Following a photo opportunity in front of the famous door, we moved through more security checks into the main cabinet building where we had a quick look at the treasury boardroom, which overlooks Gordon Brown’s private gardens.

We were then led to Gus O’Donnell’s office. We would like to report some top secret discoveries, but we were more interested in sitting in the Cabinet Secretary’s chair and playing with his Daleks! Charlotte’s colleague then told us all about his job and also the whereabouts of agencies such as MI5, which was located right below our feet! 

The trip was inspiring, especially for students considering a political career, and brought to life our studies of central British government.