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 501 - 550 of 3726

Per page:
File name File title Begins Ends Release date Any docs withheld? Classification Pages
PREM19/501 Ireland (Prime Minister's meeting with widows from Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, July 1980) Begins: 1980 Jun 11 Ends: 1981 Apr 24 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Secret Pages: 62
PREM19/502 Ireland (Meetings with Lord Brookeborough and Lord Moyola to discuss the security situation in Northern Ireland) Begins: 1980 May 8 Ends: 1981 Feb 23 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Any docs withheld? 2 Classification: Confidential Pages: 29
PREM19/503 Ireland (Hunger strike at the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland; the 'Dirty Protest') (Part 2) Begins: 1980 Dec 13 Ends: 1981 Apr 21 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Secret Pages: 198
PREM19/504 Ireland (Hunger strike at the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland; the 'Dirty Protest') (Part 3) Begins: 1981 Apr 22 Ends: 1981 May 20 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Any docs withheld? 2 Classification: Secret Pages: 267
PREM19/505 Ireland (Hunger strike at the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland; the 'Dirty Protest') (Part 4) Begins: 1981 May 20 Ends: 1981 Jul 2 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 336
PREM19/506 Ireland (Hunger strike at the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland; the 'Dirty Protest') (Part 5) Begins: 1981 Jul 3 Ends: 1981 Aug 28 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 335
PREM19/507 Ireland (Prime Minister's meetings with the Taoiseach (Charles Haughey); Anglo-Irish joint studies) (Part 3) Begins: 1980 Aug 11 Ends: 1981 Mar 5 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 275
PREM19/508 Ireland (Prime Minister's meetings with the Taoiseach (Charles Haughey, Garret Fitzgerald); Anglo-Irish joint studies) (Part 4) Begins: 1981 Mar 11 Ends: 1981 Oct 20 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 328
PREM19/509 Ireland (Prime Minister's meetings with the Taoiseach (Garret Fitzgerald); Anglo-Irish Summit, November 1981) (Part 5) Begins: 1981 Oct 22 Ends: 1981 Nov 6 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 224
PREM19/510 Italy (Anglo-Italian Summits) (Part 1) Begins: 1981 Jan 20 Ends: 1981 Nov 11 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret - UK Eyes A Pages: 211
PREM19/511 Japan (Visit to UK by Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki, June 1981: meetings with Prime Minister) Begins: 1981 Apr 6 Ends: 1981 Jul 13 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 119
PREM19/512 Jordan (Visits to UK by King Hussein: meetings with Prime Minister) (Part 1) Begins: 1979 Jun 1 Ends: 1981 Nov 18 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Secret Pages: 301
PREM19/513 Kenya (Visit to UK by Foreign Minister, Dr Robert Ouko, May 1981: call on Prime Minister) Begins: 1981 Apr 21 Ends: 1981 May 22 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 27
PREM19/514 Local government (Relations with central government, organisation & finance) (Part 4) Begins: 1980 Sep 29 Ends: 1981 Jun 2 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 235
PREM19/515 Local government (Relations with central government, organisation & finance) (Part 5) Begins: 1981 Jun 4 Ends: 1981 Sep 8 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 229
PREM19/516 Local government (Relations with central government, organisation & finance) (Part 6) Begins: 1981 Sep 11 Ends: 1981 Oct 30 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 108
PREM19/517 Local government (Relations with central government, organisation & finance) (Part 7) Begins: 1981 Nov 2 Ends: 1981 Dec 1 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 134
PREM19/518 Local government (Pay of local authority manual workers; Fire Service dispute; industrial action in the water industry) (Part 1) Begins: 1980 Oct 23 Ends: 1981 Nov 9 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 171
PREM19/519 Local government (Possibility of an Accounts Commission for Local Government) Begins: 1979 Oct 31 Ends: 1981 Jun 6 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 23
PREM19/520 Local government (Future of the City Corporation: correspondence with Sir Horace Cutler) Begins: 1981 Mar 26 Ends: 1981 Jun 26 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 25
PREM19/521 Luxembourg (Visit to UK by Gaston Thorn (Foreign Minister of Luxembourg and President-designate of the European Commission), October 1980: meeting with Prime Minister) Begins: 1979 Jun 26 Ends: 1981 Oct 14 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 74
PREM19/522 Malta (Visits to UK by Dr Edward Fenech Adami, leader of Maltese opposition Nationalist Party, November 1979 and June 1981: meetings with Prime Minister) Begins: 1979 Oct 12 Ends: 1981 Jun 1 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 27
PREM19/523 Manpower (Special employment measures; industrial training; youth unemployment) (Part 2) Begins: 1980 Oct 21 Ends: 1981 Jan 30 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 152
PREM19/524 Manpower (Unemployment and young people; industrial training) (Part 3) Begins: 1981 Feb 3 Ends: 1981 Mar 26 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 57
PREM19/525 Manpower (Unemployment and young people; industrial training; Employment and Training Bill - Enterprise Zones; measures against unemployment) (Part 4) Begins: 1981 Apr 3 Ends: 1981 Jul 10 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 242
PREM19/526 Manpower (Measures against unemployment; youth training; Young Workers Scheme; unemployment and early retirement) (Part 5) Begins: 1981 Jul 13 Ends: 1981 Oct 31 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 249
PREM19/527 Manpower (Housing policy and labour mobility: National Mobility Scheme) Begins: 1980 Jul 7 Ends: 1981 Jul 23 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 56
PREM19/528 Mexico (Visit to UK by Foreign Minister, Dr Jorge Castadena, March 1981: meeting with Prime Minister) Begins: 1981 Jan 19 Ends: 1981 May 21 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 24
PREM19/529 Middle East (Arms sales and military assistance to Middle Eastern countries) (Part 1) Begins: 1979 Nov 6 Ends: 1981 Mar 31 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Any docs withheld? 2 Classification: Secret Pages: 209
PREM19/530 Middle East (Situation in the Middle East) (Part 5) Begins: 1980 Sep 1 Ends: 1981 Apr 30 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 370
PREM19/531 Middle East (Situation in the Middle East) (Part 6) Begins: 1981 May 1 Ends: 1981 Sep 30 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 340
PREM19/532 Middle East (Situation in the Middle East) (Part 7) Begins: 1981 Oct 1 Ends: 1981 Nov 3 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 178
PREM19/533 Middle East (Situation in the Middle East) (Part 8) Begins: 1981 Nov 4 Ends: 1981 Dec 11 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 318
PREM19/534 Middle East (Arab ambassadors' dinner, July 1981: invitation declined by PM as PLO representative would be present) Begins: 1981 Feb 23 Ends: 1981 Jul 10 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 30
PREM19/535 Middle East (Prime Minister's visits to Kuwait and Bahrain, September 1981: meetings with Rulers and Ministers) Begins: 1981 Apr 15 Ends: 1981 Nov 9 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 151
PREM19/536 Ministers (Rules governing travel by Ministers and their families: charging for Royal Air Force aircraft) (Part 1) Begins: 1979 May 4 Ends: 1981 Nov 16 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 196
PREM19/537 National health (Doctors' and dentists' pay; report of Review Body; consultants' contracts) (Part 2) Begins: 1979 Sep 25 Ends: 1981 May 15 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 162
PREM19/538 National health (Advisory Group on the future of health services and medical education in London) Begins: 1980 Mar 12 Ends: 1981 Feb 2 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 37
PREM19/539 Nationalised industries (Coal mines) (Part 2) Begins: 1980 Jul 15 Ends: 1981 Mar 4 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 189
PREM19/540 Nationalised industries (Coal mines) (Part 3) Begins: 1981 Mar 10 Ends: 1981 Jul 20 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 199
PREM19/541 Nationalised industries (Coal mines) (Part 4) Begins: 1981 Jul 22 Ends: 1981 Nov 30 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 284
PREM19/542 Nationalised industries (Gas and electricity pricing policy; industrial energy pricing) (Part 3) Begins: 1980 Oct 20 Ends: 1981 Mar 12 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 230
PREM19/543 Nationalised industries (Gas and electricity pricing policy; industrial energy pricing) (Part 4) Begins: 1981 Mar 13 Ends: 1981 May 28 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 107
PREM19/544 Nationalised industries (Gas and electricity pricing policy: industrial energy pricing; future of British Gas Corporation's appliance retailing activity) (Part 5) Begins: 1981 Jun 5 Ends: 1981 Oct 12 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 241
PREM19/545 Nationalised industries (Pay of Chairmen and Board members) (Part 1) Begins: 1980 May 20 Ends: 1981 Dec 3 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Secret Pages: 223
PREM19/546 Nationalised industries (Privatisation) (Part 3) Begins: 1980 Oct 16 Ends: 1981 Feb 23 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 146
PREM19/547 Nationalised industries (Privatisation) (Part 4) Begins: 1981 Mar 3 Ends: 1981 Sep 18 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 398
PREM19/548 Nationalised industries (Prospects for the steel industry; the Iron and Steel Bill; British Steel Corporation (BSC) corporate plan) (Part 8) Begins: 1980 Dec 4 Ends: 1981 Feb 16 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 155
PREM19/549 Nationalised industries (Prospects for the steel industry; British Steel Corporation (BSC) corporate plan; overlap between BSC and private sector; rationalisation of the UK engineering steel making facilities) (Part 9) Begins: 1981 Feb 17 Ends: 1981 Apr 6 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 245
PREM19/550 Nationalised industries (Prospects for the steel industry; British Steel Corporation (BSC) corporate plan; overlap between BSC and private sector; assistance to private sector steel firms) (Part 10) Begins: 1981 Apr 7 Ends: 1981 Dec 14 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 218
Per page: