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.
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 …
Fifty years ago today, the 35thPresident of the United States of America was shot dead as his car drove through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. The brutal shock of the assassination made it one of the defining moments of …
To follow is a true story from David, the Facilities Manager at Number 10. You can also listen to his tale here I’m David and I work in Facilities Management. I joined Number 10 in the year 2000 and I …
If I could go back in time and meet a figure from history, I would choose George Graham. Football fans might think of a different George Graham, but I am interested in the man who was Registrar General of England …
Behind every Prime Minister there are other people, 'at Power’s Elbow', never achieving the same acclaim or notoriety, yet indispensable to the very public figure they support. The British premiership has always been a group effort. This point can be …
75 years ago today, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew back from Munich after two days of tense discussions with the German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler. He had reached an agreement setting out a timetable and terms for the Nazi takeover of …
The National Archives is well known as the guardian of the nation’s historical documents, with 1,000 years of records under its roof. Less well-known is that it holds one of the most important resources for the study of design history, …
Early foreign diplomatic entertainment by the Foreign Secretary took place in local taverns or at his home, but by the 1850s the London Diplomatic Corps had increased so greatly that there were very few places sufficiently large enough to contain …
Modern technology means that today’s politicians remain contactable, even when on holiday. Constant access to digital communications can be a mixed blessing but, in the event of a crisis, the public can rest assured that holidays can be interrupted and …
The early Exchequer was once described as an occasion not an institution, referring to the somewhat ad hoc nature of its foundation and early days. Over 9 centuries later, the modern Exchequer retains a similar place in our national consciousness …