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 51 - 75 of 3727

Per page:

File name	File title	Begins	Ends	Release date	Any docs withheld?	Classification	Pages
PREM19/4588	Chile (UK/Chilean relations: internal situation; policy on arms sales) (Part 2)	Begins: 1986 Mar 13	Ends: 1994 May 25	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4587	Official Cars (Use of official cars) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 May 10	Ends: 1994 Dec 23	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 195
PREM19/4585	Cambodia (UK/Cambodian relations: internal situation) (Part 2)	Begins: 1988 Dec 19	Ends: 1994 Oct 31	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4584	Cameroon (UK/Cameroon relations) (Part 2)	Begins: 1988 Apr 11	Ends: 1994 Nov 18	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4583	Cabinet (Cabinet meetings) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 May 6	Ends: 1994 Jul 20	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 104
PREM19/4576	Bermuda (UK/Bermuda relations: internal situation) (Part 2)	Begins: 1987 Jul 1	Ends: 1994 Oct 6	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4574	Belgium (UK/Belgian relations: internal situation) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Oct 12	Ends: 1994 Jun 6	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4573	Bahrain (UK/Bahraini relations) (Part 2)	Begins: 1987 Sep 11	Ends: 1993 Dec 19	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4570	Austria (UK/Austrian relations: internal situation) (Part 2)	Begins: 1990 Jun 7	Ends: 1994 Dec 22	Date of release: 2019 Feb 6
PREM19/4562	Algeria (UK/Algerian relations: internal situation) (Part 1)	Begins: 1982 Jun 14	Ends: 1994 Aug 16	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4561	Afghanistan (Soviet invasion; UK/Afghanistan relations: internal situation) (Part 8)	Begins: 1988 Apr 6	Ends: 1994 Jun 15	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28	Any docs withheld? 18	Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 285
PREM19/4560	Aerospace (Westland Helicopters) (Part 8)	Begins: 1990 Jan 22	Ends: 1994 Feb 4	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4549	Education (Financing of student unions)	Begins: 1980 Feb 4	Ends: 1994 Feb 23	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4532	Civil Service (Introduction of new technology into the Civil Service: Project Gemstone; Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in government departments) (Part 3)	Begins: 1986 May 16	Ends: 1992 Jul 26	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4530	Civil Service (Civil servants contacts with members of the opposition and members of parliament) (Part 1)	Begins: 1980 Jan 24	Ends: 1994 Apr 21	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4518	Zimbabwe (Internal situation: UK/Zimbabwe relations; Prime Minister's meetings with Mr Mugabe) (Part 5)	Begins: 1987 Mar 24	Ends: 1993 Sep 28	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4517	Zambia (Internal situation: relations with UK) (Part 2)	Begins: 1987 Sep 1	Ends: 1993 Jan 22	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28	Any docs withheld? 5	Classification: Secret	Pages: 252
PREM19/4502	Vanuatu (UK/Vanuatu relations: internal situation) (Part 1)	Begins: 1980 Jul 29	Ends: 1993 Apr 27	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4501	USA (Visit of Donald Regan, US Treasury Secretary, on 8 December 1983: includes plan for a visit by his successor, Lloyd Bentsen)	Begins: 1983 Nov 17	Ends: 1993 Feb 4	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4500	USA (Economic situation) (Part 5)	Begins: 1990 Feb 9	Ends: 1993 Apr 21	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4495	USA (United States foreign policy: USA/European relations) (Part 4)	Begins: 1990 Apr 25	Ends: 1993 May 24	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4494	Uruguay (UK/ Uruguay relations: internal situation)	Begins: 1981 Aug 24	Ends: 1993 Jun 28	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4492	United Nations (Inauguration of World Food Day, 16 October 1981: includes correspondence on the appointment of the next Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation)	Begins: 1981 Aug 28	Ends: 1993 Oct 12	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4490	Turkey (Internal situation: European aid to Turkey) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 May 10	Ends: 1993 Aug 28	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/4489	Tuvalu (UK/Tuvalu relations: internal situation; includes visits of Tuvalu Prime Ministers, Mr Toaripi Lauti, Dr Tomasi Puapua, and Mr Bikenibeu Paeniu)	Begins: 1980 Jul 9	Ends: 1993 Dec 14	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28

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