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 2751 - 2800 of 3726

Per page:

File name	File title	Begins	Ends	Release date	Any docs withheld?	Classification	Pages
PREM19/2802	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's term of office: Mrs Thatcher's 10th anniversary as Prime Minister)	Begins: 1987 Sep 9	Ends: 1989 May 3	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2803	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's meeting with Basil Hersov, President of the South African Institute of Directors, February 1989)	Begins: 1988 Jun 8	Ends: 1989 Mar 1	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 20
PREM19/2804	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's meeting with Professor Abdus Salam, May 1989)	Begins: 1989 Apr 21	Ends: 1989 May 8	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 28
PREM19/2805	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's meeting with Professor Margaret Turner-Warwick. President of the Royal College of Physicians, July 1989)	Begins: 1989 Jul 23	Ends: 1989 Jul 31	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 21
PREM19/2806	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's meeting with Robert Crandall, Chairman of American Airlines, 30 October 1989)	Begins: 1989 Jun 30	Ends: 1989 Nov 3	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2807	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's meeting with William Schreyer, Chairman of Merrill Lynch, 6 July 1989)	Begins: 1988 Jun 6	Ends: 1989 Jul 6	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2808	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's visits to government departments: consideration of regional visits) (Part 4)	Begins: 1987 Jul 24	Ends: 1989 Sep 9	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 1	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 39
PREM19/2809	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's meetings and correspondence with Jack Peel (Director of Industrial Relations at the European Commission until March 1981)) (Part 1)	Begins: 1980 Jan 1	Ends: 1989 Sep 28	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2810	Prime Minister (Prime Minister's meetings with Lord Young: Enterprise Unit)	Begins: 1984 Jun 1	Ends: 1989 Feb 6	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2812	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Madrid for European Council meeting, June 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1988 Jun 21	Ends: 1989 Jun 29	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 9	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 76
PREM19/2813	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's attendance at the International Democrat Union (IDU) Conference in Tokyo, September 1989, and meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow, September 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1988 Dec 14	Ends: 1989 Nov 24	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2814	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Frankfurt for the Anglo-German Summit, February 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1988 Dec 19	Ends: 1989 Mar 13	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2815	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Kuala Lumpur for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), October 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1988 Feb 19	Ends: 1989 Nov 27	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2816	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Paris to attend the G7 Summit, July 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1988 May 31	Ends: 1989 Aug 23	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 4	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 169
PREM19/2818	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Germany, April 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1989 Feb 24	Ends: 1989 May 3	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2820	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Morocco, Nigeria and Southern Africa, March-April 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1989 Mar 20	Ends: 1989 Jul 28	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Secret	Pages: 201
PREM19/2821	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Strasbourg for European Council meeting, December 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1989 Sep 3	Ends: 1989 Dec 12	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 5	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 85
PREM19/2822	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to the United Nations and Washington, November 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1989 Sep 14	Ends: 1989 Dec 22	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2823	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Brussels for NATO Summit, December 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1989 Nov 19	Ends: 1989 Dec 5	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2824	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Luxembourg, April 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1988 Mar 8	Ends: 1989 Apr 19	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2825	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to Paris for Anglo-French Summit, February 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1989 Jan 20	Ends: 1989 Feb 28	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 62
PREM19/2826	Prime Minister's Tours Abroad (Prime Minister's visit to the NATO Summit, Brussels, May 1989: administrative arrangements)	Begins: 1989 Apr 6	Ends: 1989 Jun 2	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2827	Regional Policy (Inner city policy and problems: Urban Development Corporations; 'Action for Cities'; regeneration of London Docklands) (Part 15)	Begins: 1988 Sep 6	Ends: 1989 Jan 30	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2828	Regional Policy (Inner city policy and problems: Urban Development Corporations; regeneration of London Docklands) (Part 16)	Begins: 1989 Feb 7	Ends: 1989 Jul 31	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2829	Royal Family (Royal visit to Brussels, November 1980)	Begins: 1980 Jun 27	Ends: 1989 Nov 20	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 9
PREM19/2832	Royal Family (Ownership of the Royal Palaces: Historic Royal Palaces Agency)	Begins: 1987 Nov 26	Ends: 1989 Dec 6	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2833	Royal Family (Visits to Northern Ireland by the Duke and Duchess of Kent)	Begins: 1980 Mar 31	Ends: 1989 Jul 26	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2834	St Christopher and Nevis (Relations with UK; independence; internal situation) (Part 1)	Begins: 1981 Mar 4	Ends: 1989 Mar 30	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2835	Science and Technology (Maintaining the strength of the science base: the science budget) (Part 8)	Begins: 1988 Dec 1	Ends: 1989 Jun 30	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2836	Science and Technology (Maintaining the strength of the science base: the science budget) (Part 9)	Begins: 1989 Jul 4	Ends: 1989 Dec 22	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2837	Science and Technology (Consideration of British candidates for Nobel Prizes for science)	Begins: 1989 Apr 11	Ends: 1989 Apr 13	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 6
PREM19/2838	Scotland (Scottish High Court judges: possible homosexual scandal)	Begins: 1989 Dec 22	Ends: 1989 Dec 22	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2845	Security (Security considerations in relation to the appointment of Ministers, Parliamentary Private Secretaries and research assistants)	Begins: 1979 May 4	Ends: 1989 Mar 1	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2847	Security (Access to classified documents and information by individuals and allied countries)	Begins: 1984 Aug 2	Ends: 1989 Dec 15	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2849	Security (Leak to The Observer relating to Westland plc)	Begins: 1985 Dec 24	Ends: 1989 Jun 16	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2854	Senegal (UK/Senegal relations: visits to UK by President Diouf, February 1986 and November 1988)	Begins: 1979 Oct 1	Ends: 1989 Sep 18	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 290
PREM19/2855	Social Services (Statutory right to paid time off for ante-natal care)	Begins: 1980 Mar 10	Ends: 1989 Sep 1	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 13
PREM19/2856	Social Services (Uprating of social security benefits) (Part 4)	Begins: 1987 May 6	Ends: 1989 Sep 29	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 356
PREM19/2857	Social Services (Long-term strategy for social security operations) (Part 2)	Begins: 1986 Jun 24	Ends: 1989 Jun 19	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 129
PREM19/2858	Somalia (Visit to the UK by Major-General Mohamed Siad Barre, President of Somalia (June 1988); visit by Mohamed Ali Samatar, Prime Minister of Somalia (January 1989))	Begins: 1982 Mar 4	Ends: 1989 Apr 25	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2860	South Africa (Internal situation: relations with UK) (Part 19)	Begins: 1989 Apr 6	Ends: 1989 Aug 31	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 12	Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 330
PREM19/2861	South Africa (Internal situation: relations with UK) (Part 20)	Begins: 1989 Sep 4	Ends: 1989 Oct 30	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Secret	Pages: 267
PREM19/2862	South Africa (Situation in Namibia) (Part 4)	Begins: 1986 Mar 3	Ends: 1989 Apr 29	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Secret - Cab One	Pages: 363
PREM19/2863	South Africa (Visit to UK by F W de Klerk, leader of the South African National Party, June 1989)	Begins: 1980 Feb 12	Ends: 1989 Jul 11	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 9	Classification: Secret - Cab One	Pages: 53
PREM19/2864	South Africa (Visits to London by South African Finance Ministers: Senator Owen Horwood (October 1979) and Barend du Plessis (April 1989))	Begins: 1979 Jun 19	Ends: 1989 Apr 24	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 1	Classification: Secret - Cab One	Pages: 78
PREM19/2865	South Africa (Visits to the UK by the South African Foreign Minister, Pik Botha)	Begins: 1979 Oct 16	Ends: 1989 Mar 15	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 74
PREM19/2867	Soviet Union (Visits to the UK by Soviet Deputy Prime Ministers: Leonid Konstandov, Vladimir Kamentsev and Aleksandra Biryukova)	Begins: 1983 Sep 23	Ends: 1989 Jul 26	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 65
PREM19/2868	Soviet Union (Visit to the UK by President Mikhail Gorbachev, April 1989) (Part 3)	Begins: 1989 Jan 3	Ends: 1989 Mar 31	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 8	Classification: Secret	Pages: 492
PREM19/2869	Soviet Union (Visit to the UK by President Gorbachev, 5-7 April 1989) (Part 4)	Begins: 1989 Apr 2	Ends: 1989 May 3	Date of release: 2017 Dec 29		Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 404
PREM19/2870	Soviet Union (Visit to the UK by Dr Andrei Sakharov: meeting with the Prime Minister, 23 June 1989)	Begins: 1989 Apr 26	Ends: 1989 Jun 23	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 15

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