Downing Street visitor books are published for the first time

Downing Street visitor books signed by some of the most famous people in recent history have been revealed for the first time.

Three red leather, gilt-tooled volumes issued by the National Archives spanning 1970 to 2003 feature world leaders and members of the royal family.

The names of those who visited No. 10 are not made public, so the books provide a valuable record of who had private conversations with prime ministers.

One of the volumes was put up for sale earlier this year by a London auction house that said it had been rescued from a flooded basement by a former civil servant, but the government blocked the sale, saying Given that it is Crown property.

Dr Jack Brown, a lecturer at King’s College London, described the books as “amazing…historical writing”.

As Number 10’s first resident researcher, he explained that the book was not left on the table for everyone to sign, but only presented to special guests.

Some left private messages, most notably to Margaret Thatcher, who spent more than a decade in Downing Street from 1979 to 1990.

In 1989, then US President George Bush wrote: “With respect, friendship and gratitude for a relationship that means so much”.

Dr Brown said he was referring to the so-called special relationship between Britain and the US rather than a personal relationship, but President Bush’s wife Barbara also signed on, adding: “Me too.”

Relations with fellow EU leaders were not always so smooth.

That same year, French Prime Minister Michel Rocard wrote: “It is always a rare opportunity to compete with the Prime Minister, especially when we agree, even when we disagree.” Thank you very much.

“It was great,” said Dr. Brown, “I think you had a match with Thatcher … especially if you were a socialist French prime minister, at the end of her term.”

The guest book appears to have been introduced by Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath, who was in office from 1970-1974.

Among the first to sign it were members of the royal family, who left only their first names, including an entry in March 1971 that read “Charles” from the then Prince of Wales.

Many Asian and African leaders signed the first volume. A name, dated July 12, 1971, reads in rough letters: “General Me Amin Dada” – Idi Amin of Uganda.

Amin had taken power in a coup six months earlier, and the brutal nature of his rule was not yet clear to Western governments. In 1971 he was invited to Buckingham Palace as well as Downing Street.

Just over a year later, Amin gave tens of thousands of Ugandan Asians just 90 days to leave the country. Many held British passports and came to settle in the UK.

Among world leaders – including Jimmy Carter, Ferdinand Marcos and Indira Gandhi – is an anomaly, four pages filled with the signatures of leading British women from 1978 – Anna Ford, Cleve Lane, Prue Leith and Janet Street-Porter.

The latter was a familiar face on TV, but Janet Street-Porter remembers being intimidated by the event, a reception marking 50 years of equal suffrage.

“I always seemed eager and confident, but to be invited to Downing Street for something so historically important was a great experience for me,” she said.

While there were many receptions in Downing Street, the book was brought to very few – including the commemoration of Downing Street’s 250th anniversary in 1985.

The Queen and Prince Philip signed, as did six other prime ministers, including the increasingly vulnerable Harold Macmillan, Lord Stockton.

The book captures the changing times: signed by President Mikhail Gorbachev in April 1989, when he was on a state visit with his wife Raisa.

Early the following year, leaders of the newly independent Eastern European countries visited No. 10 – including Czechoslovakia’s Vaclav Havel, who added his trademark little heart.

The book appears to have been rarely used by John Major and Tony Blair, although there is a shocking message from early 2002, months after the 9/11 attacks.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani wrote: “Mr. Prime Minister, we are forever grateful for your support of us in this time of greatest danger. You will always be a special place in the minds and hearts of all New Yorkers and Americans. Will keep the position.”

Dr Brown said that “despite an apparently semi-random collection of autographs”, the book was “a story of Britain’s place in the world” told in these signatures over time.

Janet Street Porter, who has visited Downing Street many times since 1978, thinks all guest lists should be published.

“Then you can see who is getting closer to the center of government and who has the prime minister’s ear.”