The Camerons wave a final goodbye

Joining arms with his wife Samantha and three young children Nancy, 12, Elwen, nine and Florence, five, they huddled together before facing the media for a final walk and a wave down the cobbled street, just like the Browns and Blairs did before them.

The Camerons youngest daughter has spent her entire life on Downing Street, as she was born four months after her father became Prime Minister in 2010.

Dressed in a pretty pink dress, she stole the show, switching between a cheery smile and a little bemusement, while her older siblings seemed to be taking the day’s events with far more gravity and at times a little sadness.

Despite the strangely chilly wind and splashes of rain, they stood perfectly still as their father made his final speech as Prime Minister, focusing on his young family’s formative years on Downing Street.

He said: “I want to thank my children, Nancy, Elwen and Florence, for whom Downing Street has been a lovely home over these last six years. They sometimes kick the red boxes full of work. Florence – you once climbed into one, before a foreign trip, and said take me with you. No more boxes.

“And above all, I want to thank Samantha, the love of my life. You have kept me vaguely sane and, as well as being an amazing wife, mother and businesswoman, you have done something every week in that building behind me to celebrate the best spirit of voluntary service in our country.”

For the past 19 years Downing Street has been home to young families - quite the change from the general 20th century tradition where becoming Prime Minister was something one did much later in life when child-rearing days were long over.

Still only 49-years-old, David Cameron and his wife Samantha, 45, brought a youthfulness to Downing Street that the public very much warmed to. From pictures of Mrs Cameron whizzing along on a scooter during the school run to talking about baking for the family on the BBC One show Great British Bake Off, it was always nice to know that a family life was going on as best it could behind the heavy closed door of Numbers 10 and 11.

Likewise the moment Gordon Brown’s two tiny sons appeared in public for the first time in matching checked shirts when their father said goodbye to Downing Street in 2010 struck a chord with the public. Mr Brown as a loving father was not the usual image we had been served with during his time in power.

Tony Blair’s son Leo, was just seven-years-old, when his father left Downing Street in 2007, again a youngster whose earliest years were spent living at the heart of British Government.

Before Mr Cameron turned and waved to his staff and political advisors, he told the press that it had been an honour to serve his country.

He said: “So I want to take this moment to say thank you to all those who have written letters and emails offering me that support, people who I will never get to meet and never get to thank personally.

“It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve our country as Prime Minister over these last six years, and to serve as leader of my party for almost eleven years.

“And as we leave for the last time, my only wish is continued success for this great country that I love so very much.”