British PM’s 1st day at 10 Downing St. will stretch from nuclear weapons briefing to Larry the cat

LONDON (AP) — After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer stepped through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday.

When he did, he entered the alternate reality of a man who meets regularly with King Charles III and has ultimate control of Britain’s nuclear missiles, all while adjusting to life in a creaking 17th century landmark and trying to balance his work and personal life.

On his first day in office, Starmer will get briefings from senior civil servants about key issues facing the government, receive congratulatory phone calls from world leaders and begin the process of appointing his Cabinet.

Here is a look at some of the other traditions and responsibilities he faces on his first day inside No. 10.

The first time a prime minister walks through the uber-polished door of 10 Downing St., household staff and civil servants by custom line the entrance and clap for the new leader and his senior team.

It is Starmer’s introduction to the people he will live and work with, most of whom served his predecessor only a few hours earlier.

Salma Shah, a special adviser to former Treasury chief Sajid Javid, described the custom as equal parts nice gesture and strange experience, particularly given that the civil servants know little or nothing about the latest batch of politicians moving into the heart of British government.

“I’ve often mused over the fact that no one really claps you on the way out whenever you leave your job,’’ she said during a briefing about the first days of a new administration sponsored by the Institute for Government think tank. “So it’s nice, but it is also quite odd.’’

One of the most sobering moments of any prime minister’s first day on the job is the realization that he now has the ultimate authority over whether to launch Britain’s nuclear missiles.

In the U.K., this is underscored when the country’s top civil servant informs the new prime minister that he has to write “last resort letters” to the captains of Britain’s four nuclear-armed submarines telling them what to do in the event of a nuclear attack that wipes out the civilian leadership.

It is a duty unique to Britain, where there is no “nuclear football,” the briefcase carrying targeting data and launch codes that accompanies the U.S. president wherever he goes.

The letters are placed on board each of the submarines inside safes that are to be opened only if their captains are certain Britain has been attacked and the country’s civilian leaders are dead.

While the letters are destroyed unread when a new prime minister takes office, there are thought to be only four options: retaliate, don’t retaliate, use your own judgment, or put your nuclear weapons under the command of the U.S. or Australia, if possible.

No. 10 Downing St. is as much of a shorthand for Britain’s prime minister as the White House is for the U.S. president. But that’s about all they have in common.

Behind the famous black door of No. 10 sits a warren of interlinked offices, meeting rooms and two residences carved out of three townhouses built in the late 1600s.

With an estimated 400 people working in some 100 offices, the space has become dysfunctional, a workplace consultant said two years ago, recommending that the prime minister’s top team move to a modern office space.

“It’s clear that 10 Downing St. isn’t fit for purpose and much of the muddled decision-making afflicting the government may stem from not having a proper office,” Andrew Mawson, managing director of Advanced Workplace Associates, said in 2022. “No major corporation – or indeed government department – operates from a largely unreconstructed 300-year-old building or has the CEO living above the shop.”

One of the first decisions Britain’s new prime minister will have to make is whether to live in the two-bedroom apartment above 10 Downing St., traditionally the home of Britain’s leaders, or the more spacious four-bedroom apartment over No. 11, formerly dedicated to the treasury chief.

Starmer, who is married and has two teenage children, is likely to follow recent precedent and claim the larger apartment. Other than his predecessor, Rishi Sunak, every prime minister since Blair has picked that option.

No. 10 Downing St. is part of a row of townhouses built between 1682 and 1684 by former diplomat and property developer George Downing. The home of Britain’s prime ministers since 1735, it has been expanded over the years by linking it to the adjoining properties at No. 11 and No. 12.

There were problems from the beginning.

In an effort to increase his profit, Downing cut costs. The houses had inadequate foundations for the boggy ground and the mortar lines were drawn on to give the appearance of evenly spaced bricks, according to the government website.

One former resident, Winston Churchill, described Downing Street with his characteristic flair.

“Shaky and lightly built by the profiteering contractor whose name they bear.”

Before the day is over, Starmer may have his first meeting with Larry the cat, far and away the most famous permanent resident of Downing Street.

Larry, a gray and white tabby who roams the heart of government as if it is his own personal realm — has been a fixture of the residence for more than 13 years, outlasting five prime ministers.

The former stray was brought to Downing Street from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2011 to help control a rodent problem and he has been “chief mouser” ever since.

Larry has the press corps at his paws, with photographers snapping photos of him whenever the news is slow, or all the time really. Larry even has 843,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter.

So here’s the question: After Starmer writes his last resort letters, meets the civil servants and starts to adjust to this huge change in his life, will he make time to scratch Larry behind the ears? And what will Larry think?

After all, prime ministers come and go. But Larry? Well, he had better not be going anywhere says freelance photographer Justin Ng, who is known as Larry's favorite snapper on Downing Street. Perish the thought that Larry might retire!

“I hope Mr. Starmer ... doesn’t underestimate the popularity of Larry,'' Ng said. “Basically, if he wants to stay in power, then Larry has to stay, too.''

FILE - A Police officer patrols 10 Downing Street, in London, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer will step through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

FILE - Britain's Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria walk past supporters towards 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer will step through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Labour Party leader Keir Starmer smiles as he speaks to his supporters at the Tate Modern in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer will step through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Larry the cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office poses for the cameras outside 10 Downing Street in London, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer will step through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

FILE - Britain's newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria enter his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time after the Labour Party won a landslide victory in the 2024 general election, in London, Friday July 5, 2024. After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer will step through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - A view through a screen of 10 Downing Street as a video camera films in London, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer will step through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

FILE - Britain's Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria pose for the media on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024.After a few hours of sleep to shake off a night of celebration and an audience with the king, Keir Starmer will step through the front door of 10 Downing St. for the first time as prime minister on Friday. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, in a letter to congressional Democrats, stood firm against calls for him to drop his candidacy and called for an “end” to the intraparty drama that has torn apart Democrats about whether he should stay in the race after his dismal public debate performance.

Biden wrote in the two-page letter Monday that “the question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end.” He stressed that the party has “one job,” which is to defeat presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump in November.

“We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election,” Biden said in the letter. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”

The letter was sent from the campaign to Democratic lawmakers as they return to Washington following the July 4 recess.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Deeply torn over President Joe Biden’s candidacy, Democratic lawmakers return to Washington at a pivotal moment as they decide whether to work to revive his campaign or edge out the party leader, a make-or-break time for his reelection and their own political futures.

Anxiety is running high as top-ranking Democratic lawmakers are joining calls for Biden to step aside after his dismal public debate performance and defiant response to the uproar. At the same time, some of the president’s most staunch supporters are redoubling the fight for Biden’s presidency, insisting there is no one better to beat Republican Donald Trump in what many see as among the most important elections of a lifetime.

As lawmakers weigh whether Biden should stay or go, there appear to be no easy answers in sight.

It’s a tenuous and highly volatile juncture for the president’s party. Democrats who have worked alongside Biden for years — if not decades — and cherished his life's work on policy priorities are now entertaining uncomfortable questions about his political future. And it's unfolding as Biden hosts world leaders for the NATO summit this week in Washington.

Time is not on their side, almost a month from the Democratic National Convention and just a week before Republicans gather in Milwaukee to renominate Trump as their presidential pick. Many Democrats are arguing the attention needs to be focused instead on the former president's felony conviction in the hush money case and pending federal charges in his effort to overturn the 2020 election.

It's what Biden himself might call an inflection point. As he defiantly says he will only step aside if the Lord almighty comes and tells him to, Democrats in the House and Senate are deciding how hard they want to fight the president to change course, or if they want to change course at all.

In an effort to “get on the same page,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is convening lawmakers for private meetings before he shows his own preference, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it. He plans to gather Democrats on Monday whose bids for reelection are most vulnerable.

But a private call Sunday of some 15 top House committee members exposed the deepening divide as at least four more Democrats — Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state and Rep. Mark Takano of California — privately said Biden should step aside.

Nadler, as the most senior ranking member on the call, was the first person to speak up and say that Biden should step aside, according to a person familiar with the call who was granted anonymity to discuss it. He did so aware of his seniority and that it would allow others to join him.

Many others on the call raised concerns about Biden’s capability and chance of winning reelection, even if they stopped short of saying Biden should step out of the race.

Still other members, including Rep. Maxine Waters of California and Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, both leaders in the Congressional Black Caucus, spoke forcefully in support of Biden, as did Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

And several lawmakers appeared frustrated that leadership was not providing direction or a path forward, according to people familiar with the call. One Democratic lawmaker said regardless of the decision, the situation has to “end now,” one of the people said.

Neal said afterward that the bottom line is Biden beat Trump in 2020 and “he’ll do it again in November.”

The upheaval also is testing a new generation of leaders, headed by Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Both New Yorkers have refrained from publicly directing lawmakers on a path forward as they balance diverse opinions in their ranks.

Behind the scenes is Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who continues to field calls from lawmakers seeking advice about the situation, and is widely viewed as the one to watch for any ultimate decision on Biden's future because of her proximity to the president and vote-counting skills in party politics.

Pelosi spoke up last week, saying Biden's debate performance raised “legitimate” questions he needed to answer, but she has remained supportive of the president. And Biden called her last week when he reached out to other party leaders.

When Biden's prime-time ABC interview on Friday appeared to do little to calm worried Democrats, and some said made the situation worse, Pelosi stepped forward to publicly praise Biden on social media as a “great President who continues to deliver for America’s kitchen table.” She added, "and we're not done yet!”

Schumer has kept a lower profile throughout the ordeal but will convene Democratic senators Tuesday for their weekly lunch when senators are certain to air many views.

One Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, had intended to gather senators Monday to discuss Biden privately, but a person familiar with his thinking said those conversations will take place in Tuesday’s regular caucus luncheon with all Democratic senators.

Another Democrat, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said it was “time to quit the hand-wringing and get back to door knocking.”

Padilla spoke with Biden over the weekend, and urged his campaign to “let Joe be Joe.”

“Given the debate, I think the campaign has no choice,” Padilla said Sunday, explaining that Biden needs to hold town halls and unscripted events to show voters “the Joe Biden I know, and that most people in American have come to grow and love.”

While some deep-pocketed donors may be showing discomfort, strategists working on House and Senate races said they posted record fundraising as donors view congressional Democrats as a “firewall” and last line of defense against Trump.

House Democrats have had some of their better fundraising days yet, including a $3 million haul last Friday night after the debate at an event with former President Barack Obama and Jeffries in New York City. That’s on top of $1.3 million that rolled into the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the debate and its immediate aftermath.

Senate Democrats are also seeing a “surge” of support, according to a national Democrat with knowledge of Senate races.

As Democratic candidates campaign alongside Biden, the advice has been to focus on building their own brands and amplifying the way the work that’s done in Congress affects their local districts.

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Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri, Kevin Freking and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden attends a church service at Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)