Archive

Large scale document archive

Treasury Private Office papers

In 2012 www.margaretthatcher.org uncovered through an FOI request the existence of a vast cache of secret papers stored at H.M. Treasury, some 4,850 files from the Private Office of successive Chancellors (and Chief Secretaries) between 1979 and 1997.

The files contain the most politically sensitive documents from the very top of the Treasury, the small circle of Ministers, Special Advisers and Private Secretaries, which were stored, when in use, only a few doors from the Chancellor's room for convenience and security. Their like is rarely found at the National Archives in Kew. These documents are of deep historical interest, an intact Private Office collection in scale and importance exceeded only by that from No.10 itself, relied on by Treasury ministers when writing their memoirs. It is an un-looted tomb in Whitehall's Valley of the Kings – the Palace accountant's rather than the Pharaoh's, but well worth the ticket.

When it first revealed the existence of the files the Treasury stated that it intended to destroy the whole lot, waiting politely till the various Chancellors died off. It was claimed, quite mistakenly, that the contents of these files are either ephemeral or copied elsewhere, and so should not be considered part of "the definitive policy record" maintained by its various divisions for archiving at Kew.

Later, and following representations, officials denied that destruction was ever intended. The first section, covering the Chancellorship of Sir Geoffrey Howe, 1979-83, was released at TNA in 2016; the files have been digitised and uploaded to the list below. The bulk of Nigel Lawson's files, 1983-89, were released at TNA in early 2018 and have also been digitised; they are being uploaded progressively and many are now available on this page. The spreadsheet giving the full list 1979-97 can be downloaded below.

Although some of the files relate to 1979 and 1980, the filing system glimpsed here only got into full operation in 1981, so earlier records are something of a legacy from what went before and are significantly fewer.

The Treasury has also released Nick Ridley's surviving Private Office files as Financial Secretary to the Treasury. These are diferent in form to the Chancellor's files, consisting largely of photocopies of minutes and meetings records relating to directly to Ridley with very little incoming correspondence. They are not listed in the spreadsheet already mentioned, so must derive from the 'unstructured' files already referred to. They are in rough chronological order – a sort of day file.

How to use this page?

Below are links to the downloadable files in numerical order. The original file names have been modified to convey content more readily.

An average file has around 100 pages.

Some of these downloads are very big, as large as 50MB, though most are in the range 1-10MB.

Where documents within a file have been selected for the site database, they can easily be viewed by clicking the file name link.

Selected documents in site database

Documents from the files selected for the site database can be read here. Progressively more will be uploaded over time.

Showing items 451 - 475 of 1282

Items per page
File name File title Begins Ends Release date Any docs withheld? Classification Pages
T640/369 Budget (1986 Autumn statement budget debate) 1986 Dec 12 1987 Jan 9 2014 Secret 172
T640/370 Budget (1986 Budget autumn statement) 1986 Dec 2 1987 Jan 26 2014 Confidential 180
T640/371 Budget (The Retail Price Index) 1984 Jan 19 1987 Apr 15 2014 Personal & Confidential 114
T640/372 Europe (Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy within the European Community) 1987 Apr 21 1987 Jul 24 2014 Confidential 194
T640/373 Europe (Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy within the European Community) 1987 Jul 27 1987 Oct 28 2014 Confidential 159
T640/374 Europe (Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy within the European Community) 1987 Oct 29 1987 Dec 16 2014 Confidential 154
T640/375 Monetary policy (The exchange markets and foreign currency borrowing) 1986 Aug 21 1987 Feb 27 2014 Secret 115
T640/376 Monetary policy (The exchange markets and foreign currency borrowing) 1987 Mar 4 1987 Oct 23 2014 Secret 132
T640/377 Monetary policy (The exchange markets and foreign currency borrowing) 1987 Nov 2 1987 Dec 17 2014 Secret 47
T640/378 Political (Arrangements for the transition of the sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997) 1987 May 5 1987 Dec 3 2014 Secret 138
T640/379 International (Group of Five (G5) and Group of Seven (G7) meeting 1987) 1986 Jun 13 1987 Feb 20 2014 Secret 163
T640/380 International (Group of Five (G5) and Group of Seven (G7) meeting 1987) 1987 Feb 21 1987 Mar 31 2014 Secret 130
T640/381 International (Group of Five (G5) and Group of Seven (G7) meeting 1987) 1987 Apr 1 1987 May 18 2014 Secret 78
T640/383 Economy (The National Economic Development Council) 1987 Mar 9 1987 Nov 18 2014 Confidential 177
T640/386 Europe (European Council Copenhagen December 1987) 1987 Jun 24 1987 Nov 27 2014 Confidential 205
T640/387 Europe (European Council Copenhagen December 1987) 1987 Nov 29 1987 Dec 2 2014 Confidential 223
T640/388 Europe (European Council Copenhagen December 1987) 1987 Dec 3 1987 Dec 16 2014 Confidential 143
T640/389 International (Communique and speeches at the International Monetary Fund meeting September 1987) 1987 Aug 28 1987 Sep 28 2014 Unclassified 175
T640/390 International (Communique and speeches at the International Monetary Fund meeting September 1987) 1987 Sep 29 1987 Oct 1 2014 Confidential 246
T640/392 Economy (Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC): review of restrictive trade practices) 1986 Nov 26 1987 Jul 21 2014 Secret 123
T640/393 Europe (Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) meeting, Luxembourg, June 1987) 1987 Feb 27 1987 Jun 15 2014 Confidential 308
T640/394 International (Group of Five (G5), Group of Seven (G7) and Group of Ten (G10) meetings, Washington September 1987) 1987 Apr 9 1987 Sep 21 2014 Secret 110
T640/395 International (Group of Five (G5), Group of Seven (G7) and Group of Ten (G10) meetings, Washington September 1987) 1987 Sep 22 1987 Sep 28 2014 Secret 129
T640/396 International (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) meeting, Paris, May 1987) 1987 Apr 21 1987 May 4 2014 Confidential 180
T640/397 International (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) meeting, Paris, May 1987) 1987 May 5 1987 May 13 2014 Confidential 79
Items per page