Clement Attlee bore little resemblance to the contemporary politician. He had no time for the things that are now the stock-in-trade of all serious aspirants for high office: image and public relations. Attlee was so apparently unconcerned with presentation that …
Speaking personally, I love it when BBC Parliament re-shows general election television coverage in order to mark general election anniversaries, and I know I'm not alone with my enthusiasm. You see the story of the election unfold, 'in real time' …
...then I'll begin. Could a government document ever have been a potential contender for the ‘Jackanory’ treatment? Let me explain. Today, 3 January, as part of the transition to a 20-year rule, The National Archives is releasing Prime Minister’s Office …
Ask anyone to name Winston Churchill’s best-known speech and nine times out of ten they will answer: We shall fight them on the beaches. It’s not an exact quotation – Churchill did not include the word ‘them’ – but the …
...a large extent on the team of personal staff he skilfully constructed, influenced by the coalition premier in the previous world war, David Lloyd George (1916-1922), whose innovations included the...
If I told you that records of 30 years ago have just been released, would you immediately think that records such as ‘Karma Chameleon’ (Culture Club), ‘Every breath you take’ (The Police) and ‘Down under’ (Men at work’) had been …
Are you a scribbler? Do you regularly commit your thoughts by putting pen to paper? Or does that sound a ridiculously old fashioned notion in this age of social media? On the other hand, perhaps you keep a handwritten diary, …
On 20 February 1913 The Times reported: ‘An attempt was made yesterday morning to blow up a house which is being built for Mr Lloyd George near Walton Heath Golf...
Lord Butler was Cabinet Secretary between 1988 and 1998, working with two Conservative Prime Ministers - Margaret Thatcher and John Major - and, after Labour's 1997 landslide victory, Tony Blair....
...in 1967, becoming Under Secretary the following year. In 1970 he was appointed Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Edward Heath. He then moved to the Home Office, becoming...