The Downing Street Policy Unit[i] has been part of the inner workings of British government for half a century. It was created by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in March 1974.[ii] All successive prime ministers have retained the Policy Unit, adapting …
On 5th July 1948 the National Health Service was established in the United Kingdom. Britain was the first western country to offer free at the point of use medical care to the whole population.[1] Seventy-five years on the NHS continues …
This blog post examines the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit 2001 to 2005, which was created during Tony Blair’s premiership. The Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit acted as a nexus of power between No.10 and Whitehall.
The Prime Minister's Secretariat (the 'Garden Suburb') was formed 100 years ago, to support David Lloyd George in the conduct of the war. But would it still be needed once hostilities came to an end?
On 5 December 1916 Herbert Henry Asquith, the Liberal Prime Minister who had governed Britain for more than eight years, resigned, and fellow Liberal David Lloyd George subsequently became Prime Minister, with Conservative support. This was a remarkable development, as Dr Matthew Johnson explains.
Researcher in Residence: Progress Report IV My name is Jack Brown and I am the first ‘Researcher in Residence’ at No. 10 Downing Street, based at the Policy Institute at King’s, King’s College London. I have been investigating the ‘Geography of Power’ at …
![Extract of the draft note from 2 January 1917 on 10 Downing Street headed paper which reads 'To: The Private Secretary, the Prime Minister has decided, with a view to keeping himself in close touch with the several departments, to establish a ['Secretariat' is crossed out and replaced by 'Department'] in connection with Office of the First Lord of the Treasury. The following gentlemen have been appointed to act as secretaries to the ['First Lord of the Treasury' is crossed out and replaced by 'new Department']](https://history.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/01/edited-1024x753.jpg)
It is a century since David Lloyd George formed the first ever prime-ministerial policy team, known as the ‘Garden Suburb’.
Researcher in Residence: Progress Report III My name is Jack Brown and I am the first ‘Researcher in Residence’ at No. 10 Downing Street, based at the Policy Institute at King’s, King’s College London. As part of my role …
Researcher in Residence: Progress Report II My name is Jack Brown and I am the first ‘Researcher in Residence’ at No. 10 Downing Street, based at the Policy Institute at King’s, King’s College London. As part of my role this …
The role of Researcher in Residence at No.10 Downing Street is a new one, and the product of a partnership between No.10, the Policy Institute at King’s College London, King’s Widening Participation Department, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and award-winning charity The …