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 2001 - 2050 of 5082

Per page:
File name File title Begins Ends Release date Any docs withheld? Classification Pages
PREM19/2099 Economic Policy (Prime Minister's bilaterals with the Chancellor of the Exchequer) (Part 2) Begins: 1986 Nov 3 Ends: 1988 Aug 22 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Secret Pages: 246
PREM19/2100 Economic Policy (Policy on small firms; Local Enterprise Agencies) (Part 6) Begins: 1985 May 1 Ends: 1987 Jan 2 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2101 Economic Policy (Policy towards privatisation; disposal of public sector assets; contracting out of public sector functions) (Part 15) Begins: 1986 Nov 19 Ends: 1987 Mar 25 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2103 Economic Policy (Public spending) (Part 36) Begins: 1986 Oct 1 Ends: 1987 Jan 16 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Classification: Secret Pages: 268
PREM19/2104 Economic Policy (Public spending) (Part 37) Begins: 1987 Feb 5 Ends: 1987 Jul 31 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Classification: Secret Pages: 232
PREM19/2105 Economic Policy (Public spending) (Part 38) Begins: 1987 Aug 4 Ends: 1988 Mar 31 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Classification: Secret Pages: 280
PREM19/2106 Economic Policy (Public spending) (Part 39) Begins: 1987 Aug 5 Ends: 1988 Jun 30 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Classification: Secret Pages: 119
PREM19/2107 Economic Policy (Public sector pay policy; Treasury monitoring reports) (Part 13) Begins: 1984 Oct 4 Ends: 1987 Jul 23 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2108 Economic Policy (G7 Summit - Toronto: Prime Minister's Personal Representative for Economic Summits; briefing for second meeting of Personal Representatives ('Sherpas'), Quebec, February 1988) (Part 1) Begins: 1987 Oct 30 Ends: 1988 Jan 28 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Classification: Confidential Pages: 297
PREM19/2115 Education (Education seminar held by the Prime Minister at Downing Street, 2 October 1985) Begins: 1985 Aug 30 Ends: 1986 Jan 1 Date of release: 2015 Dec 30
PREM19/2123 Education (General policy on education and education expenditure: national curriculum; education in Scotland and Wales; Education Reform Bill; financial delegation; Government response to Education, Science and Arts Select Committee report) (Part 16) Begins: 1987 Nov 2 Ends: 1987 Dec 30 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Any docs withheld? 2 Classification: Confidential Pages: 312
PREM19/2124 Education (General policy on education and education expenditure: Education Reform Bill; education in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland; financial delegation; grant maintained schools; national curriculum; future of Paisley Grammar School; charges forschool activities; opting out of Local Education Authority (LEA) control; religious education) (Part 17) Begins: 1988 Jan 7 Ends: 1988 Mar 30 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Confidential Pages: 405
PREM19/2125 Education (General policy on education and education expenditure; Education Reform Bill; opting out of Local Education Authority (LEA) control in Scotland; position of National Union of Students (NUS); Christian education; admission to maintained schools;polytechnics; national curriculum issues; Higginson Report on future of 'A' levels) (Part 18) Begins: 1988 Apr 6 Ends: 1988 May 26 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Secret Pages: 262
PREM19/2126 Education (General policy on education and education expenditure; Higginson Report on future of 'A' levels; polytechnics; City Arts College; national curriculum issues; opting out of Local Education (Part 19) Begins: 1988 Jun 1 Ends: 1988 Nov 30 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Classification: Secret Pages: 343
PREM19/2127 Education (Reorganisation of schools in Ilkeston, Derbyshire: Prime Minister's concern at deficiencies in Department of Education and Science (DES) decision-making procedures) Begins: 1987 Dec 2 Ends: 1988 Feb 24 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Confidential Pages: 56
PREM19/2129 Education (Teachers' pay) (Part 10) Begins: 1987 Apr 2 Ends: 1987 Sep 9 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Any docs withheld? 5 Classification: Confidential Pages: 197
PREM19/2130 Education (Future of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA)) (Part 4) Begins: 1984 Apr 3 Ends: 1987 Jul 30 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Classification: Secret Pages: 267
PREM19/2131 Education (Future of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA): opting out of ILEA by London boroughs; contingency plans for abolition) (Part 5) Begins: 1987 Aug 20 Ends: 1988 Jun 23 Date of release: 2015 Dec 30 Classification: Confidential Pages: 253
PREM19/2132 Elections (Election procedure) (Part 2) Begins: 1987 Jan 5 Ends: 1987 May 12 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Any docs withheld? 2
PREM19/2133 Elections (Election procedure) (Part 3) Begins: 1987 May 13 Ends: 1988 Mar 31 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2134 Energy (Energy policy: nuclear power; the Sizewell Report) (Part 10) Begins: 1986 Jun 2 Ends: 1987 Jan 26 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2135 Energy (Energy policy: nuclear power; Layfield report on new Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR), Sizewell 'B'; doctrine of collective responsibility aspect of Energy Secretary's decision to accept Layfield recommendation; study by Advisory Council on Applied Research and Development (ACARD) on UK future nuclear reactor programme) (Part 11) Begins: 1987 Feb 4 Ends: 1987 Nov 30 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2136 Energy (Energy policy: nuclear power; revision of report by Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACOST) on industrial impact of Sizewell 'B' decision; extension of Joint European Torus (JET) project on nuclear fusion; disposal of UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) shareholding in National Nuclear Corporation; fast reactor programme) (Part 12) Begins: 1987 Dec 1 Ends: 1988 May 24 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2137 Energy (North Sea oil prices; petrol prices; world oil market) (Part 3) Begins: 1986 Feb 4 Ends: 1987 Feb 28 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2138 Energy (Future of British National Oil Corporation (BNOC): proposed sale of British Petroleum (BP) assets; Kuwaiti holding in BP) (Part 6) Begins: 1986 Mar 24 Ends: 1988 Dec 30 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2146 European Policy (Presidency of European Commission (reappointment of Jacques Delors): UK Commissioners (appointment and meetings with Prime Minister); David Williamson to succeed Emile Noel as Secretary-General; UK representation in official posts in Commission) (Part 3) Begins: 1984 Jan 2 Ends: 1988 Jul 29 Date of release: 2018 Apr 18
PREM19/2149 European Policy (Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)) (Part 17) Begins: 1987 Apr 3 Ends: 1987 Sep 30 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Classification: Confidential Pages: 235
PREM19/2150 European Policy (Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)) (Part 18) Begins: 1987 Oct 1 Ends: 1988 Mar 30 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2156 European Policy (European Council meeting, Brussels, June 1987) (Part 26) Begins: 1986 May 1 Ends: 1987 Jul 1 Date of release: 2019 Jul 18
PREM19/2159 European Policy (European Council meeting, Brussels, February 1988) (Part 28) Begins: 1988 Jan 21 Ends: 1988 Feb 22 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2160 European Policy (European Council meeting, Hanover, June 1988) (Part 29) Begins: 1988 Apr 1 Ends: 1988 Jun 30 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2162 European Policy (European Monetary System (EMS)) (Part 2) Begins: 1982 Mar 1 Ends: 1987 Jan 7 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Classification: Secret Pages: 342
PREM19/2174 Foreign Policy (Future inward and outward State visits; visits by members of the Royal Family) Begins: 1985 Sep 1 Ends: 1988 Aug 5 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2175 Foreign Policy (Prime Minister's visit to Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain, September 1988) Begins: 1988 Aug 1 Ends: 1988 Nov 30 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2176 Foreign Policy (Prime Minister's visit to Australia, Bahrain, Oman, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Dubai, August 1988) (Part 1) Begins: 1988 May 12 Ends: 1988 Jul 31 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2179 Foreign Policy (Summary notes on Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) Assessments) (Part 2) Begins: 1986 Sep 5 Ends: 1987 Dec 18 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2188 Government Buildings (Refurbishing of Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) (Part 1) Begins: 1980 Jun 1 Ends: 1988 Aug 12 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2199 Government Machinery (Special advisers; appointment procedure) (Part 3) Begins: 1984 Jan 12 Ends: 1987 Jun 29 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2211 Greece (UK/Greek relations) (Part 1) Begins: 1980 May 1 Ends: 1987 Mar 31 Date of release: 2017 Dec 29 Any docs withheld? 11 Classification: Secret Pages: 242
PREM19/2216 Home Affairs (Assaults on children: inquiry into child abuse and attached report on child abuse in Cleveland; activities of the Paedophile International Exchange) (Part 1) Begins: 1983 Sep 1 Ends: 1988 Sep 5 Date of release: 2020 Dec 30
PREM19/2222 Home Affairs (Monopolies and Mergers Commission Report on proposed takeover of House of Fraser by Lonrho) Begins: 1987 Jan 12 Ends: 1987 Oct 28 Date of release: Retained Classification: Closed for 40 years
PREM19/2223 Home Affairs (Parole position of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady) Begins: 1985 Feb 19 Ends: 1987 Mar 24 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2230 Hong Kong (Future of Hong Kong) (Part 19) Begins: 1986 Nov 18 Ends: 1987 Sep 9 Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/2231 Hong Kong (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)) Begins: 1985 Aug 28 Ends: 1987 Jul 21 Date of release: Retained Classification: Closed for 40 years
PREM19/2241 Immigration (Immigration Rules) (Part 3) Begins: 1986 Apr 7 Ends: 1987 Oct 30 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2243 India (UK/Indian relations: Rihand power station) (Part 5) Begins: 1985 Jun 3 Ends: 1987 May 21 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2265 Iraq (Internal situation: Iran-Iraq War) (Part 5) Begins: 1984 Sep 1 Ends: 1987 Jul 19 Date of release: Reconsideration 2027 Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2266 Iraq (Internal situation: Iran-Iraq War) (Part 6) Begins: 1987 Jul 20 Ends: 1987 Aug 10 Date of release: Reconsideration 2027 Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2267 Iraq (Internal situation: Iran-Iraq War) (Part 7) Begins: 1987 Aug 11 Ends: 1987 Aug 31 Date of release: Reconsideration 2027 Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2268 Iraq (Internal situation: Iran-Iraq War) (Part 8) Begins: 1987 Sep 1 Ends: 1987 Dec 18 Date of release: Reconsideration 2027 Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
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