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.
A quick question: how many Foreign Secretaries have there been since the Foreign Office was founded in 1782? Fifty, 100? The answer is 61 - and a portrait of every former foreign secretary hangs on the walls of the Secretary …
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 …
Lord O'Donnell, GCB, joined the Civil Service in 1988 as senior economic advisor to the Treasury. Between 1988 and 1990 he was Press Secretary to the Chancellor, Norman Lamont and the Prime Minister, John Major. He was Cabinet Secretary and …
As ‘Deepthroat’ instructed Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward during Watergate, ‘follow the money’ – and this sage advice applies to historians looking for material reflective of all aspects of British, indeed international, history from the 17th century onwards. The archives …
Lord Turnbull, KCB, CVO, entered the Civil Service in 1970, joining the Treasury. After a two year secondment to the IMF in Washington from 1976 to 1978, he returned to the UK, becoming Private Secretary of Economic Affairs to the …
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 Links’. One device had exploded, causing about £500 worth of …
Lord Richard Wilson of Dinton, GCB entered the Civil Service in 1966, joining the Board of Trade. He subsequently served in a number of departments including twelve years in the Department of Energy. He headed the Economic Secretariat in the Cabinet …
In this series of interviews, cabinet secretaries past and present speak about life at the centre, where the political leadership of the Cabinet and Prime Minister is translated into policy. The position of Cabinet Secretary is just under 100 years …
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 this interview with historian Anthony Seldon, he talks about the bombing …