The Downing Street Christmas tree is an integral feature of festive news bulletins, standing guard outside the prime minister's residence alongside the more commonplace police officer. But how is the tree chosen? BBC News went to an Oxfordshire village where growers have fought it out for the honour of providing the tree.
"Trees are like women. If you treat the woman good and nicely, she grows nicely, as trees do as well."
That's according to Paul Bizub, a first time contestant in the national competition to have a Christmas tree twinkle proudly outside No 10 Downing Street.
The event, which plays out like the Eurovision Song Contest of the Christmas tree-growing calendar, has a similarly drawn out voting process, a parade of hopefuls, and the inevitable dashing of dreams.
For the 30-year-old Slovakian, who now lives in Surrey, "failure is not an option".
"You care about the trees, and with all the time you are in the fields with them, you can utterly catch any problems." - More on this story
