Archive

MT's official files as Prime Minister, 1979-90

MT's official files as PM can be read on this site as they are released, in full and free to all - the confidential files originally stored at No.10, the core record of her premiership.

The files have been copied at the British National Archives (TNA) at Kew in London and can be downloaded precisely as they appear in the reading room.

We are doing something more to help people make sense of this mass of information. The files are subject-based, logically enough, but that system makes it difficult to reconstruct the flow of paper across the Prime Minister’s desk at any point in time, depriving us of a sense of context, of the political cross-winds, some of them overwhelming.

To combat this effect we are uploading a large selection of the most important documents from these files – thousands in total - to our powerful site database. You can search and sort by date, subject and other parameters, getting as close as anyone can now get to reconstructing the Prime Minister’s daily "Red Boxes", the rich diet of foreign and domestic policy papers submitted to her by the No.10 Private Office.

List and links to the PM’s files

Below are links to the downloadable files in numerical order. The subject terms are those used in the original filing system.

An average file has around 200 pages.

You can read here an account of how filing worked at No.10, and the system for archiving MT’s Prime Ministerial papers, both of which had their quirks.

Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Private Office files, 1979-1989

1979-89: Chancellor’s Private Office files [links to hundreds of digitised files from the Chancellorships of Sir Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson]

Engagement Diaries

An alternative way through the material is to read MT’s engagement diaries, jumping day to day.

The engagement diaries link directly to relevant documents in the site database, so this is a good way to recover the perspective from the Red Box.

Showing items 1 - 25 of 3726

Per page:
File name File title Begins Ends Release date Any docs withheld? Classification Pages
PREM19/287 Legal Procedure (Proposed amendment to Act of Settlement 1701) Begins: 1980 Jul 8 Ends: 1980 Oct 31 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3984 USA (United States nuclear defence strategy: US defence policy) Begins: 1980 Aug 6 Ends: 1992 May 28 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3981 USA (Visit to the UK by George Shultz, US Secretary of State) (Part 2) Begins: 1987 Dec 1 Ends: 1992 May 25 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3968 Treasury (Secret Vote cash limits: Intelligence Agencies estimates) Begins: 1990 Oct 10 Ends: 1992 Dec 1 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3963 Transport (Proposal by Greater London Council (GLC) to extend Jubilee line to Docklands) Begins: 1979 Jun 1 Ends: 1992 Apr 30 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3949 Social Services (Portable pensions for mobility of labour: retirement provisions) Begins: 1988 Dec 1 Ends: 1992 Jun 24 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3948 Security (The Hijacking Declaration of the Bonn Summit, July 1978: prevention of international terrorist activity)(Part 4) Begins: 1989 Feb 1 Ends: 1992 Jul 6 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3940 Security (Policy on interception of communications)(Part 7) Begins: 1988 Feb 29 Ends: 1992 Aug 20 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3931 Saudi Arabia (Visits to the UK by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal)​​​​​​​(Part 16) Begins: 1982 Jun 7 Ends: 1992 Aug 3 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3929 Saudi Arabia (UK/Saudi relations: internal situation) (Part 5) Begins: 1990 Apr 6 Ends: 1992 Jun 29 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3918 Royal Family (Marriage of Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer) Begins: 1981 Jan 1 Ends: 1992 Jun 24 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3917 Royal Family (Marriage and separation of Prince Andrew) Begins: 1986 Mar 1 Ends: 1992 Mar 21 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3893 Prime Minister (Prime Minister's meetings with the Cabinet Secretary) (Part 1) Begins: 1984 Sep 1 Ends: 1992 Mar 9 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3892 Prime Minister (Demise of a Prime Minister in office) Begins: 1989 Jan 31 Ends: 1992 Oct 27 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3891 Prime Minister (Briefing for new Prime Minister and spouse) Begins: 1990 Nov 1 Ends: 1992 Feb 5 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3879 Parliament (Queen's Speeches on prorogation and opening of Parliament: televising the proceedings of the House of Commons) (Part 10) Begins: 1980 Aug 1 Ends: 1992 Mar 25 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3872 Pakistan (Visit to the UK by President Zia-ul-Haq) Begins: 1980 Sep 1 Ends: 1992 May 25 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3871 Pakistan (Internal situation: UK/Pakistan relations) (Part 2) Begins: 1987 Aug 1 Ends: 1992 Oct 27 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3868 Oman (State visit of Sultan Qaboos of Oman, March 1982: other visits by the Sultan) Begins: 1989 Feb 1 Ends: 1992 Oct 27 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3824 Ireland (Brian Nelson: public interest issues and protection of intelligence sources and methods​​​​​​​) Begins: 1990 Sep 1 Ends: 1992 Dec 14 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3809 Industrial Policy (Microelectronics industry: Inmos Ltd (INMOS)) (Part 3) Begins: 1984 Apr 20 Ends: 1992 Dec 7 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3805 Industrial Policy (Future of Rover Group) (Part 17) Begins: 1990 Apr 1 Ends: 1992 Mar 11 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3661 Downing Street (Replacement of telephone switchboard: modernisation of telecommunications; telephone systems at No. 10) (Part 2) Begins: 1988 Apr 5 Ends: 1992 Jul 2 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3660 Downing Street (Physical security aspects of Downing Street) (Part 7) Begins: 1988 Apr 5 Ends: 1992 Jul 2 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
PREM19/3649 Defence (The Mildenhall Agreement) (Part 1) Begins: 1977 Mar 11 Ends: 1992 Apr 16 Date of release: Temporarily Retained by Department
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