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 1901 - 1950 of 3726

Per page:

File name	File title	Begins	Ends	Release date	Any docs withheld?	Classification	Pages
PREM19/1904	Prime Minister (Meetings with the National Pensioners Conventions, February 1982 to March 1986) (part 1)	Begins: 1979 May 30	Ends: 1986 Mar 27	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1905	Prime Minister (Meetings with David Clark MP and Don Dixon MP about closure of Plessey factory in South Shields)	Begins: 1984 Mar 26	Ends: 1986 Jun 9	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1906	Prime Minister (Gift of moon dust to the people of the UK from President Nixon of the USA)	Begins: 1970 Feb 10	Ends: 1985 Jan 18	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 178
PREM19/1907	Prime Minister's Gifts (Gifts received by the Prime Minister since taking office)	Begins: 1979 Jul 13	Ends: 1985 Nov 5	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 2
PREM19/1908	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, April 1985: administrative arrangements) (part 2)	Begins: 1985 Apr 4	Ends: 1986 Jan 15	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 164
PREM19/1909	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Lille, France, January 1986: Anglo-French Summit on the Channel Fixed Link; administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1985 Dec 4	Ends: 1986 Jan 21	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 73
PREM19/1910	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Norway, September 1986: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1985 Sep 16	Ends: 1986 Oct 13	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 196
PREM19/1911	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to South Korea and to Japan for Tokyo Economic Summit, May 1986: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1985 Dec 4	Ends: 1986 Jul 14	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 7	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 451
PREM19/1912	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Expo' 86 exhibition in Vancouver, Canada, July 1986: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1986 Jan 18	Ends: 1986 Aug 12	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 4	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 329
PREM19/1913	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to The Hague for European Council meeting, June 1986: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1986 Apr 11	Ends: 1986 Jul 7	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 98
PREM19/1914	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Federal Republic of Germany, September 1986: Anglo-German Summit, Bonn, and visit to British Forces Germany; administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1986 Jan 20	Ends: 1986 Sep 19	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1915	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Italy for Anglo-Italian Summit, Florence, March 1986: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1985 May 9	Ends: 1986 Apr 28	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Secret	Pages: 117
PREM19/1916	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to France for Anglo-French Summit, Paris, November 1986: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1986 May 7	Ends: 1986 Nov 24	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 80
PREM19/1917	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Israel, May 1986: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1986 Feb 4	Ends: 1986 Dec 18	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 290
PREM19/1918	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad ( Prime Minister's visit to European Parliament in Strasbourg, December 1986: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1986 Feb 3	Ends: 1986 Dec 15	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 4	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 107
PREM19/1919	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Washington, USA, November 1986: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1986 Jul 2	Ends: 1986 Dec 8	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Secret	Pages: 96
PREM19/1920	Regional Policy (Inner city policy: regeneration of Liverpool and London; Docklands Urban Development Corporation; Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on Urban Priority Areas) (Part 7)	Begins: 1985 Aug 8	Ends: 1986 Jan 31	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 382
PREM19/1921	Regional Policy (Inner city policy: regeneration of Liverpool and London; Docklands Urban Development Corporation; Docklands Light Railway and Canary Wharf; South Cardiff urban renewal) (Part 8)	Begins: 1986 Feb 4	Ends: 1986 Nov 29	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 307
PREM19/1922	Regional Policy (Review of regional policy: new structure for regional industrial incentives; territorial expenditure; the North/South issue) (Part 7)	Begins: 1984 Oct 2	Ends: 1986 Dec 22	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 291
PREM19/1923	Romania (UK/Romanian relations: internal situation) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Nov 27	Ends: 1986 Jun 30	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 187
PREM19/1931	Science and Technology (Maintaining the strength of the science base; the science budget; the Engineer and Technology Programme; increase in graduate engineers and technologists) (Part 3)	Begins: 1985 Apr 2	Ends: 1985 Jun 28	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 233
PREM19/1932	Science and Technology (Maintaining the strength of the science base; the science budget; the Engineer and Technology Programme; increase in graduate engineers and technologists; review of involvement in European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN)) (Part 4)	Begins: 1985 Jul 2	Ends: 1986 Jul 31	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 278
PREM19/1933	Science and Technology (Prime Minister's meeting with Sir George Porter, President of the Royal Society)	Begins: 1986 May 22	Ends: 1986 Aug 5	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 40
PREM19/1934	Science and Technology (Women into Science and Engineering Year, 1984; Prime Minister's meetings with Lady Platt, Chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission)	Begins: 1983 Dec 12	Ends: 1986 Jul 7	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 161
PREM19/1935	Science and Technology (Prime Minister's seminar and reception for industrial designers, January 1982) (Part 1)	Begins: 1981 Oct 19	Ends: 1985 Dec 10	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 139
PREM19/1936	Science and Technology (Prime Minister's meeting with industrialists and leading academics, February 1985; the Engineering and Technology Programme)	Begins: 1985 Oct 28	Ends: 1986 Mar 7	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 298
PREM19/1937	Science and Technology (Collyear Report on new materials technology)	Begins: 1984 Aug 8	Ends: 1986 Jan 9	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Restricted	Pages: 122
PREM19/1938	Science and Technology (Exploiting invention: problems faced by inventors in securing commercial exploitation; Prime Minister's reception for innovators and entrepreneurs) (Part 2)	Begins: 1981 Feb 2	Ends: 1985 Jun 13	Date of release:		Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/1939	Science and Technology (Problems faced by Private Investors in the UK; Receptions for Inventors and Innovators; Intellectual property rights and innovation; future of Patent Office; patents for pharmaceutical industry) (Part 3)	Begins: 1985 Jul 2	Ends: 1986 Mar 26	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 402
PREM19/1940	Security (Letter to Prime Minister from Dr Anatoly Fedoseyev about the economy)	Begins: 1986 Jan 22	Ends: 1986 Feb 17	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Secret	Pages: 17
PREM19/1943	Security (Security of economic statistics)	Begins: 1979 Jun 5	Ends: 1986 Aug 20	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 37
PREM19/1956	Sierra Leone (Visits to UK by President Stevens, November 1980, and President Momoh, March 1986: meetings with Prime Minister)	Begins: 1979 Aug 9	Ends: 1986 Mar 5	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 139
PREM19/1957	Social Services (Uprating of social security benefits) (Part 3)	Begins: 1982 Mar 18	Ends: 1986 Oct 22	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Secret	Pages: 251
PREM19/1958	Social Services (Long-term strategy for social security operations; procurement of mainframe computers) (Part 1)	Begins: 1980 Sep 26	Ends: 1986 Apr 21	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 263
PREM19/1959	Social Services (Reform of social security: pensions, housing benefit and supplementary benefit; child support) (Part 4)	Begins: 1985 Dec 3	Ends: 1986 Sep 16	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Secret	Pages: 324
PREM19/1960	Social Services (Review of National Insurance position of the self-employed; assistance to small businesses; Prime Minister's meeting with National Federation of Self Employed and Small Businesses Ltd)	Begins: 1980 May 15	Ends: 1986 Jan 19	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1961	Social Services (Board and lodging charges)	Begins: 1984 Nov 28	Ends: 1986 Dec 18	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1962	Social Services (Assistance with fuel costs; alternatives to electricity discount scheme; home insulation scheme; severe weather payments) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 May 21	Ends: 1986 Feb 26	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1963	Social Services (The maternity grant)	Begins: 1979 Dec 21	Ends: 1986 Mar 5	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1964	Social Services (National Insurance contributions review; National Insurance surcharge; Redundancy Fund)	Begins: 1979 Nov 5	Ends: 1985 Nov 7	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19
PREM19/1965	South Africa (Internal situation; relations with UK) (Part 8)	Begins: 1985 Nov 1	Ends: 1986 Feb 28	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 7	Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 459
PREM19/1966	South Africa (Internal situation; relations with UK) (Part 9)	Begins: 1986 Mar 3	Ends: 1986 May 30	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 7	Classification: Secret	Pages: 468
PREM19/1967	South Africa (Internal situation; relations with UK) (Part 10)	Begins: 1986 Jun 1	Ends: 1986 Jun 30	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 14	Classification: Secret - UK Eyes A	Pages: 484
PREM19/1968	South Africa (Internal situation; relations with UK) (Part 11)	Begins: 1986 Jul 1	Ends: 1986 Jul 15	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 9	Classification: Top Secret - Cab One	Pages: 248
PREM19/1969	South Africa (Internal situation; relations with UK) (Part 12)	Begins: 1986 Jul 16	Ends: 1986 Jul 31	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Secret	Pages: 266
PREM19/1970	South Africa (Internal situation; relations with UK) (Part 13)	Begins: 1986 Aug 1	Ends: 1986 Nov 28	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19	Any docs withheld? 7	Classification: Top Secret - Cab One	Pages: 289
PREM19/1971	South Korea (UK/South Korea relations; internal situation; death of President Park; election and resignation of President Choi Kya-hah; inauguration of President Chun Doo-hwan; visit of President Chun to UK and meeting with Prime Minister, 9 April 1986) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Oct 27	Ends: 1986 Aug 21	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 283
PREM19/1972	South Korea (Prime Minister's visit to South Korea, May 1986)	Begins: 1982 Mar 29	Ends: 1986 May 16	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21	Any docs withheld? 1	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 162
PREM19/1973	Soviet Union (Human rights and the position of dissidents in the Soviet Union: policy towards the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)) (Part 1)	Begins: 1980 May 14	Ends: 1985 May 3	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 324
PREM19/1974	Soviet Union (Soviet tank developments) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Aug 1	Ends: 1986 Apr 11	Date of release: Temporarily retained by Department

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