No 10 The Geography Of Power At Dowing Street The Geography Of Power At Dowing Street Jack Brown by Jack Brown 9781912208777, 1912208776 instant download after payment.

It was a box to which only the Prime Minister and I had a key – so I put the really private stuff into this box. The Prime Minister knew perfectly well that the juicy stuff was in that box; they all went to it first. If there was something you particularly wanted done, you could always sneak it through into this box. […] And when Mr. Wilson arrived and found this had been one of the changes that had been made [whilst he was out of office], he was very pleased. He called it “Old Stripey”.8
When asked whether any Prime Minister wised up to this tactic, Armstrong said, ‘I expect they did. But provided you didn’t abuse it, it suited everybody.’9
Andrew Turnbull, who was Principal Private Secretary to both Thatcher and John Major, stated that geographical proximity was less important than being the last to view and control the flow of information to the Prime Minister