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 201 - 225 of 3727

Per page:
File name File title Begins Ends Release date Any docs withheld? Classification Pages
PREM19/458 European policy (European Community budget) (Part 11) Begins: 1981 Mar 4 Ends: 1981 Sep 24 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 114
PREM19/459 European policy (European Community budget) (Part 12) Begins: 1981 Oct 9 Ends: 1981 Dec 1 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 188
PREM19/461 European policy (European Council meeting in Maastricht, Netherlands, March 1981) (Part 6) Begins: 1981 Feb 24 Ends: 1981 Apr 2 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 85
PREM19/462 European policy (European Council meeting in Luxembourg, June 1981) (Part 7) Begins: 1981 May 21 Ends: 1981 Jul 6 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 216
PREM19/464 European policy (European Council meeting in London, November 1981) (Part 9) Begins: 1981 Nov 25 Ends: 1981 Dec 6 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Confidential Pages: 171
PREM19/465 European policy (Prime Minister's address to European Parliament, December 1981) Begins: 1980 Nov 3 Ends: 1981 Dec 16 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 134
PREM19/467 Foreign policy (Prime Minister's visit to Saudi Arabia & the Gulf States, April 1981) (Part 1) Begins: 1981 Feb 8 Ends: 1981 Apr 13 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Any docs withheld? 3 Classification: Confidential Pages: 201
PREM19/468 France (Visit to UK by Jacques Chaban-Delmas, President of National Assembly, March 1981: meeting with Prime Minister) Begins: 1981 Mar 2 Ends: 1981 Mar 20 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 13
PREM19/473 Ghana (Visit to UK by President Limann, May 1981: meeting with Prime Minister) Begins: 1980 Oct 21 Ends: 1981 Jun 2 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 155
PREM19/474 Government buildings (Expenditure on government accommodation) Begins: 1979 Jun 20 Ends: 1981 Apr 2 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 18
PREM19/475 Government machinery (Organisation of Treasury and Civil Service Department (CSD)) (Part 3) Begins: 1980 Dec 3 Ends: 1981 Feb 14 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 253
PREM19/477 Government machinery (Promotion of efficiency and elimination of waste: the Rayner Scrutiny Programme) (Part 7) Begins: 1980 Nov 26 Ends: 1981 Feb 2 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 260
PREM19/478 Government machinery (Promotion of efficiency and elimination of waste: the Rayner Scrutiny Programme) (Part 8) Begins: 1981 Feb 2 Ends: 1981 May 20 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 436
PREM19/479 Government machinery (Promotion of efficiency and elimination of waste: the Rayner Scrutiny Programme) (Part 9) Begins: 1981 May 21 Ends: 1981 Sep 16 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 341
PREM19/480 Government machinery (Internal audit & financial control in government) (Part 1) Begins: 1979 May 30 Ends: 1981 Aug 12 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 331
PREM19/481 Government machinery (Advisory Council for Applied Research & Development (ACARD): reports on IT, computer-aided design & technological change; future of ACARD) (Part 2) Begins: 1980 Aug 1 Ends: 1981 Dec 14 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 226
PREM19/482 Government machinery (Reactivation of Civil Contingencies Unit in Cabinet Office: review of contingency planning; proposed Central Press Unit; use of TAVR during industrial disputes) (Part 1) Begins: 1979 May 29 Ends: 1981 Mar 2 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 70
PREM19/483 Home affairs (Oil refineries in Canvey Island and Thurrock area: industrial hazards) Begins: 1979 Apr 11 Ends: 1981 Mar 24 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 155
PREM19/485 Home affairs (Powers of entry: review by David Mitchell, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at Department of Industry; enforcement powers of Revenue Departments; European Commission powers of entry) (Part 1) Begins: 1979 Oct 23 Ends: 1981 Sep 25 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 244
PREM19/488 India (UK/Indian relations; Indo/Soviet arms deal) (Part 1) Begins: 1980 May 28 Ends: 1981 Jan 28 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 165
PREM19/489 Industrial policy (Information Technology: shortcomings of interdepartmental Whitehall machinery; Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS) and Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development (ACARD) reports) (Part 1) Begins: 1980 Jan 25 Ends: 1981 Mar 30 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 132
PREM19/490 Industrial policy (Prime Minister's meetings with Confederation of British Industry (CBI) on economic strategy) (Part 2) Begins: 1980 Nov 7 Ends: 1981 Jul 7 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 205
PREM19/491 Industrial policy (Industrial relations law) (Part 7) Begins: 1980 Dec 1 Ends: 1981 Oct 2 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 291
PREM19/495 Information and publicity (Public attitudes on pay determination; presentation of Government's economic policy) (Part 2) Begins: 1980 Jul 11 Ends: 1981 Nov 17 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 77
PREM19/497 Iraq (Visit to UK by Foreign Minister Dr Saadoun Hammadi, March 1981: meeting with Prime Minister) Begins: 1980 Nov 13 Ends: 1981 Mar 18 Date of release: 2011 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 35
Per page: