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 1876 - 1900 of 3726

Per page:

File name	File title	Begins	Ends	Release date	Any docs withheld?	Classification	Pages
PREM19/1879	Parliament (House of Commons procedure: replies to Select Committee reports; conflict of interests in the House of Commons) (Part 7)	Begins: 1985 Jun 3	Ends: 1986 Jun 16	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 341
PREM19/1880	Parliament (Legislative programme) (Part 14)	Begins: 1985 Jun 3	Ends: 1986 Apr 30	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 372
PREM19/1881	Parliament (Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Jul 5	Ends: 1986 Apr 30	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 243
PREM19/1882	Parliament (Queen's Speeches on prorogation and opening of Parliament; televising proceedings of the House of Commons) (Part 6)	Begins: 1984 Nov 2	Ends: 1986 Mar 11	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21	Any docs withheld? 5	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 258
PREM19/1883	Parliament (House of Commons Defence Committee: Falklands Inquiry)	Begins: 1982 Jun 24	Ends: 1986 Jul 16	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 51
PREM19/1884	Parliament (Parliamentary Maritime Group: Prime Minister's meeting with Sir Edward du Cann, 8 July 1986)	Begins: 1985 Apr 25	Ends: 1986 Jul 8	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 74
PREM19/1885	Parliament (Boundary Commission reviews of Parliamentary constituencies in UK)(Part 1)	Begins: 1981 Feb 19	Ends: 1986 Feb 20	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21	Any docs withheld? 2
PREM19/1886	Police (Future strategy; policies to combat crime; manpower and pay)(Part 1)	Begins: 1983 Jan 24	Ends: 1986 Mar 27	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30
PREM19/1887	Portugal (UK/Portugal relations; internal situation; death of Dr Francisco de Sa Carneiro; Prime Minister's meeting with Dr Mario Soares, 14 February 1984)(Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Jul 7	Ends: 1986 May 2	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Secret	Pages: 187
PREM19/1888	Prime Minister (Forward speaking engagements)(Part 1)	Begins: 1979 May 18	Ends: 1986 Mar 6	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 23
PREM19/1889	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's weekly diary meeting)	Begins: 1979 May 21	Ends: 1986 Jun 30	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21	Any docs withheld? 1
PREM19/1890	Prime Minister (Meeting with Geoffrey Dickens MP about child welfare and protection, 30 January 1986)	Begins: 1986 Jan 15	Ends: 1986 Feb 21	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 40
PREM19/1891	Prime Minister (Meeting with Dr An Wang, Chairman of Wang Laboratories, 7 October 1983)	Begins: 1983 Aug 10	Ends: 1986 Jan 31	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1892	Prime Minister (Visit to Capenhurst, Springfields, Heysham and Sellafield, November 1985)	Begins: 1984 Oct 29	Ends: 1986 Jan 30	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1893	Prime Minister (Correspondence from Councillor John Holt about threatened closure of Case Tractors, Meltham)	Begins: 1985 Jul 1	Ends: 1986 Mar 10	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1894	Prime Minister (Meeting with Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and Tom Clarke MP to discuss future of Ravenscraig and Gartcosh steel mills)	Begins: 1985 Jul 19	Ends: 1986 Jan 29	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1895	Prime Minister (Meeting with John Marek MP to discuss proposed closure by Courtaulds of Wrexham dicell acetate yarn manufacturing plant)	Begins: 1985 Apr 24	Ends: 1986 Jun 26	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1896	Prime Minister (Meeting with Sir Geoffrey Finsberg MP about Hampstead Health Authority)	Begins: 1986 Mar 15	Ends: 1986 Mar 20	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1897	Prime Minister (Meeting with members of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee)	Begins: 1986 Jul 15	Ends: 1986 Aug 20	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1898	Prime Minister (Meeting with Ted Garrett MP and Nick Brown MP about Swan Hunter)	Begins: 1986 Mar 20	Ends: 1986 Mar 20	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 7
PREM19/1899	Prime Minister (Meeting with Terry Lewis MP about Walkden Workshops)	Begins: 1986 Aug 18	Ends: 1986 Sep 23	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1900	Prime Minister (Allegations by Mail on Sunday newspaper of Prime Minister's involvement in share-dealing whilst in office)	Begins: 1986 Mar 24	Ends: 1986 May 29	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30
PREM19/1901	Prime Minister (Tam Dalyell's motion on conduct of Prime Minister)	Begins: 1986 Jun 4	Ends: 1986 Jun 5	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1902	Prime Minister (Meeting with Neville Trotter MP about Swan Hunter shipyard)	Begins: 1986 Feb 27	Ends: 1986 Mar 18	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1903	Prime Minister (Meeting with Warren Hawksley MP to discuss procurement of Thyssen TM170 armoured personnel carriers for Berlin)	Begins: 1986 Jan 6	Ends: 1986 Feb 4	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19

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