1st Edition
Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister Foreign Affairs from Churchill to Thatcher
The importance of the Prime Minister in British foreign policy decision-making has long been noted by historians. However, while much attention has been given to high-level contacts between leaders and to the roles played by the premiers themselves, much less is known about the people advising and influencing them. In providing day-to-day assistance to the Prime Minister, a Private Secretary could wield significant influence on policy outcomes. This book examines the activities of those who advised prime ministers from Winston Churchill (1951–55) to Margaret Thatcher during her first administration (1979–83). Each chapter considers British foreign policy and assesses the influence of the specific advisers. For each office holder, particular attention is paid to a number of key themes. Firstly, their relationship with the Prime Minister is considered. A strong personal relationship of trust and respect could lead to an official wielding much greater influence. This could be especially relevant when an adviser served under two different leaders, often from different political parties. It also helps to shed light on the conduct of foreign policy by each premier. Secondly, the attitudes towards the adviser from the Foreign Office are examined. The Foreign Office traditionally enjoyed great autonomy in the making of British foreign policy and was sensitive to encroachments by Downing Street. Finally, each chapter explores the role of the adviser in the key foreign policy events and discussions of the day. Covering a fascinating 30-year period in post-war British political history, this collection broadens our understanding of the subject, and underlines the different ways influence could be brought to bear on government policy.
Introduction
1. Managing a Giant: Jock Colville and Winston Churchill
Churchill’s Private Office
The Special Relationship
The Cold War
Churchill and Eden
Churchill’s health
Conclusion
References
2. Advising the Un-advisable: The Number 10 Private Office and the Suez Crisis
The Eden succession
The Number 10 Private Office
The policy context
Freddie Bishop and Suez
Guy Millard and Suez
The aftermath of Suez
Conclusion
References
3. Philip de Zulueta
Working under Eden
Working under Macmillan
The turn to Europe
Nuclear relations
Conclusion
References
4. Oliver Wright
Introduction
Relations with the prime minister
Relations with other policy-makers and departments
Conclusion
References
5. Michael Palliser
Appointment to Downing Street
Day-to-day routine
Downing Street diplomacy
Spying on the Foreign Office
The ‘second try’
Edward Youde
Conclusion
References
6. ‘Sound and Comfortable Men’: Peter Moon, Lord Bridges and Britain’s Entry into the EEC
Moon, Bridges and the role of the private secretary
The EEC negotiations
Conclusion
References
7. Patrick Wright and Bryan Cartledge
Patrick Wright and Bryan Cartledge
Appointment to Number 10
The Role of the Private Secretary (Overseas Affairs)
The Number 10 Private Office
Foreign policy: Continuity and change
From Wilson to Callaghan
Conclusion
References
8. Margaret Thatcher’s Private Secretaries for Foreign Affairs, 1979–1984
Michael Alexander
John Coles
Conclusion
References
Conclusion: The Prime Minister’s Private Office from John Martin to Chris Martin
The Foreign Affairs Private Secretary
The PPS and FAPS room, 1945–1999
The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister (PPS)
The five phases of the Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Conclusion
References
Appendices
Appendix I: Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister with responsibility for foreign affairs, 1945–2015
Appendix II: Principal Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister, 1945–2015
Biography
Andrew Holt taught at the University of Nottingham, King’s College London and the University of Exeter, and held a visiting fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge, before joining the Civil Service. He is the author of The Foreign Policy of the Douglas-Home Government: Britain, the United States and the End of Empire (2014).
Warren Dockter is a Lecturer in International Politics at Aberystwyth University, having previously been a Junior Research Fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge. He is the author of Winston Churchill and the Islamic World: Orientalism, Empire and Diplomacy in the Middle East (2015) and edited Churchill at the Telegraph (2015).
